Living on Love
by I.Dream.Of.Hardyz
Summary: ...Without somebody nothing ain't worth a dime... Three different girls, three different situations, but in one North Carolina town, sparks will fly and feelings will follow... Matt/OC Shannon/OC Jeff/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Another story, yes. Someone should stop me from writing sometimes, lol. But uhm... well, this story just came to me. It's about three different girls who are all in very different situations but in one way, fall into the same one. One meets Matt, one meets Jeff, and one meets Shannon. And the rest is history. But don't get discouraged if it sounds cliche, I got some major plans brewing in my mind for this story. It's going to be heartbreaking in parts, have some mystery in others, and just have some darn cute stuff in also others. So why don't you give it a chance and read on? :) Enjoy!

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**The Girls:**

**Ella Hashbrown - **Boyfriend dumps her on the side of the road and leaves her because of his commitment issues. Twenty-five.  
**Addie Hews - **All around sweetheart who takes life as it comes her her. Works at a petshop and loves animals. Twenty-seven.  
**Nia Penny - **Army wife who is pregnant with her first born and husband is in Iraq. Works at a North Carolina diner. Twenty-six.

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Ella Hashbrown walked down the road, wrapping her shawl tightly around her petite body. For such a beautiful spring day, the air was still very cold. She couldn't think clearly, but it didn't really matter. After all, when you're walking aimlessly down a North Carolina highway, you don't need to think. You just use your legs and hope for the best.

She didn't belong here. She wasn't a North Carolina resident. But her now ex-boyfriend Nick had dropped her on the side of the road and told her to "get lost" when she told him she loved him. Apparently in Nick's mind, commitment wasn't something he needed in his life. So there she was, walking down the highway, the only thing she had was a dead cell phone and the clothes fitted on her shivering back. Ella didn't know where she was going, she didn't know how she was going to pay for it, and most of all, she didn't know how she was supposed to survive now.

For the past five months, she had stupidly relied on Nick for her every need. He provided her with a home, food, and something she now felt dirty over: good intercourse. It all seemed so vile now that she was the one suffering while he just hitched a ride back to Florida. Seeing his expressionless face as he pulled away had haunted her. Did he ever really care about Ella at all? She wasn't sure.

All she knew was now she had to go on… somehow… even if it was hard.

*******

Addie Hews smiled lovingly at a male puppy in Petland while she cleaned his pen. She loved her job. It involved the one thing she loved the most: animals. Every day she came into work with a smile on her face because she knew they all depended on her for care and love. They were such helpless creatures, animals that knew nothing of the hardships of life and the most important thing on their minds was the idea of when food would be placed in their grasp.

"Miko," she cooed. "Who is a good doggy? Is it you?"

Miko, a two month old Pomeranian yapped in response, his little tale wagging quickly at the sound of her voice. Several times she had considered taking him home with her. He was a content little dog, sweet and lovable, always ready to cuddle with whatever person came in to say hello. It pained her that no one ever bought him and she couldn't figure out why.

"Addie, leave the poor dog alone," Molly, her best friend laughed while she came through the back door. "He has to be sick of your voice by now."

Almost defensively, Addie picked up the small dog and glared playfully at her best friend. "Tell her that's not true," she whispered. "You love me, Miko, right?" The dog licked her face. "See?"

"Why don't you just move in here?" Molly teased. "Seems easier on your half."

With a laugh, Addie placed Miko in his cage. "Maybe I will then. Sounds like a plan."

***

Nia Penny watched them eat dinner with friends longingly. It had been such a long time since she had actually sat down with friends and eaten out. She longed so heavily for a life like that. Now her life only consisted of two things: working and sleeping. Looking down at her stomach, she knew why. It would all be worth the pain in four months time. In four months, she would welcome Emma, her first born into her life and they would live happily together. There wouldn't be an ache for anything and life would be smooth. Together, they could get through anything.

She saw this for a long time. She dreamed of being a mother since she was a young girl, only five years of age. Every day, Nia would drag her dolls out from under her bed and play with them all, making sure they were fed, changed, and clean. Her mother called her a natural. Now it just seemed odd to the young woman that this dream was coming true. She was happy – with out a doubt, but she just wished her husband, David was here to share it with her. But he was stationed in Iraq, fighting a war she wasn't even sure there was a point to anymore.

He had left three months ago for his second deployment. It had nearly broken her heart and left her broken, but David's words kept her going. "Just wait, Nee. I'll be home in time for the baby's birth and we'll finally have the life we knew we would."

Looking down at her wedding ring, she wished that time was already here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Heeeey, guys. :D I'm glad the first chapter was liked. I really do like the idea myself for this story and I promise, it's gonna get really interesting soon enough. Now, someone *cough*HopelessRockstar*cough* asked me who each girl will be paired up with in terms of Matt, Shannon, and Jeff. We'll... you'll find out in time. :) Hehe. Thanks for the reviews though, and I hope the next chapter is good. Enjoy!

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Neon lights shined far off into the distance as Ella made her way down the busy parkway. She still refused to think about what had happened to her and instead had kept her eyes focused intently on the grass and soil below her. The cars and the noises that came with them began to fade as her mind did begin to wander. Assuming the neon lights led to a town, how would she pay her way into a hotel for the night? More importantly, how was she going to get home all together? Last she had checked North Carolina and Florida were not neighbors.

She walked until she came to an exit that said "Southern Pines" and walked up to the first shopping center in sight, deciding it would be easier to stay in North Carolina all together. Ella didn't have much back in Florida, so it didn't really matter. First though, she had to find a job.

Parked in the middle of the shopping lot was an obnoxiously large car, inside she could see the back of a tattooed man's head. He was talking on his cell phone animatedly, his voice hinting on severe irritation.

Ella walked past the car, looking at her right and seeing a small pizza parlor with a help walked sign in the window. Not seeing a reason not to try, she walked inside with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Yeah, I know I have no experience in it, Sir," Ella muttered a few minutes later, her voice soft and pleading, "but I'm in a rut and in the need of some cash."

"Lady, so is half of America." The man behind the counter was not what she expected to receive when she walked inside. He was a large man with a faint Italian accent and dark, unfriendly eyes. How he got anyone to buy pizza from him, she wasn't sure.

"Yes, but please. I'm a fast learner and I'll work for minimum wage." The man's face didn't falter. "_Please_," Ella pleaded once more. "I need this job."

Finally, he actually looked at her, moving his hands from his waist and putting them on the counter while he leaned forward. "Listen, Lady. I'll give you a shot. But if you give me even _one_ reason to fire you, you're gone. Understand?"

Ella gulped, trying to hold back her excited smile. "Yes, Sir. I won't let you down, I promise."

"I'm Arthur," the man said, ignoring her pleased tone. "Come back here first thing tomorrow morning and I'll show you the ropes. Do _not_ be late. Say, around nine a.m. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir. I'll be here. Bright and early."

For some reason she still expected a smile to come onto his face as she turned to leave, but Arthur just stood there with a flat expression, his eyes boring into her back. It didn't matter how he treated her though, all she knew was that she had a job and that was one step closer to having a place to live.

Speaking of which, Ella stopped. Where would she sleep tonight?

"Yeah, Matt, I know. But I had to stop at Gas Chamber because Shane had a problem with a customer. What? No! Shit, man. What is your problem? I'm sorry I'm late but I'll be there in a few minutes. I'm just finishing up this cigarette and then I'm leaving, okay? Yeah, bye." The man from the large car looked up as he shut his cell phone, giving Ella a curious glance.

"Can I bum a smoke?"

The tattooed man smiled teasingly. "Sure." He tossed her a pack of Newports without taking his eyes off her. "You new around here?"

"Huh?"

The man leaned back against the wall as Ella took a cigarette and tossed the pack back at him. "I own this place." He waved his arm toward a tattoo parlor to his right. "I pretty much see everyone who comes in and out of here and I've never seen you before."

"Oh… well, yeah." Ella walked over and took the lighter out of the man's hand and lit her stolen cigarette. "I'm Isabella, but please call me Ella."

"Shannon Moore."

She wrinkled her nose a little, holding back a laugh. Why would someone name their son a girl's name? "Nice to meet you." They stood in silence for a moment, even though Ella could tell Shannon was staring at the brunette girl. "What?"

"Nothin'." Shannon wiped the cheeky grin from his face quickly and took a good look at the girl as a whole. She had a nice body, that was for sure. Thin and curvy in all the right places, with thick, straight brunette hair that fell just past her shoulders. Her face was hard to read, as if she was trying hard to hide her emotions but he could still see the slight glisten in her milk chocolate colored eyes.

"You're staring at me," Ella pointed out. "It must be something."

"I just met you," Shannon rebutted. "I was looking at you. Sorry if that's a crime."

She shrugged at his answer and tossed her cigarette out onto the blacktop. "So… how much does one of those cost?"

"What?"

Ella smiled and pointed to the tattoo shop. "How much does one of those cost?"

"It depends on whatever you want. Considering you're not an excited fan, I'll lessen the cost." He seemed to have an inside joke in those words, but Ella couldn't pick up on whatever it was. "What do you have in mind?"

"I don't know," she admitted, getting up off the stone wall. "But when I think of something, I'll let you know." Figuring she'd stayed her welcome long enough, she smiled darkly at Shannon and walked away.

*******

"I'm thinking we need a girl's night out," Molly stated as she and Addie carried a heavy bag of dog food in the back of the store. "We haven't done anything fun in a while, you know. We just work and go home and watch movies. While I find that fun sometimes, we need some adventure."

Addie shrugged. She didn't mind her life, but wasn't going to put out the idea of "fun" in Molly's eyes from her head. "What did you have in mind?"

"Let's go out for dinner tonight. Cracker Barrel… when was the last time we were there, you know? And I figure after we can stop near the lake and just talk. Nothing too exciting for our first night of adventure. Just some girly stuff. What do you think?"

"Sounds fun." Addie smiled at Molly as she took down some chew toys for the howling puppies to her right. Then, she made her way over to the cage and slid in one per dog. There was a brief moment of sniffing and silence, then the room erupted into squeeze-toy noises and yipping dogs. "I'll do it."

"Great!" Molly cried happily, nearly sending one of the hamsters ten feet into the air. Molly happened to forget to use her "indoor" voice on more than one occasion. "Be ready at seven and I'll pick you up, okay?"

***

"Welcome to Cracker Barrel. I'm Nia and I'll be your server for the night. How may I help you?" She spit those lines out like a robot, finding they came without thought now. She had worked at Cracker Barrel for almost a year and if she didn't say those words, the dinner rush always seemed weird to her.

A redheaded girl smiled back at her. "I'll just have a salad for now," she admitted. "And maybe a root beer. What about you, Molly?"

The blonde Molly tapped her chin thoughtfully, flipping through the pages before deciding on a hamburger and a Coke. "You know, we came here tonight for something a little out of the ordinary in our lives. I find it pretty funny how blandly we both ordered."

"I'm really not that hungry," Addie admitted quietly. "But it is a refreshing change."

"I'll put your orders in and get you your sodas, girls." Nia took the menus in one arm and re-balanced her weight in the other. Being pregnant had put her off steadiness easily. She had to be careful or she'd fall flat on her face.

As she walked away, Addie and Molly went right back into their conversation. "I really like the name Nia," Molly admitted, leaning forward onto her elbows. "It's pretty."

"It is," Addie was quick to agree but she had her eyes elsewhere. Just about ten feet away, a woman who looked slightly frightened had walked into the restaurant, arms covered with a dirty looking shawl. Her eyes seemed slightly glazed as she made her way through the waiting dinner crowd and toward the bathroom, barely looking up as she bumped into people and almost tripped forward. "Look at that."

Molly glanced behind her. "What?"

"That woman," Addie breathed. "She looked strange."

"We live in a strange world," Molly reminded her with a laugh. "It's not weird to come across a strange person once in a while."

It seemed like more than that to Addie though. For some reason, her eyes had shifted right to the brunette girl as if she was supposed to know she was there for some fated reason; it unnerved her. Finally, she brushed it off. "I guess you're right."

*******

About an hour later, Addie and Molly were making their way to Molly's old Toyota, laughing over something they had remembered from high school. "I can't believe you went out with Cameron," Addie giggled. "He was such a drama queen. It's funny seeing him on TV now… even if it is just as the weather man. Imagine if you married that."

Molly glared playfully at her best friend, digging around her purse for her keys. "You know, he was quite the romantic when we were dating. He took me to—"

"I know where he took you. I am your best friend, remember?"

Molly smiled ruefully. "Funny." She went to put her keys into the car door when she spotted something familiar. It was the girl Addie had been looking at inside of Cracker Barrel. She was now leaning with her knees up against the brick wall, shivering slightly in the cool spring air. "Hey, isn't that the girl you were staring at before?"

Addie glanced behind her, the smile from the high school memory still on her face, but it quickly dissolved. "Yeah, it is. See, I told you there was something strange about her. We've been inside there for what… almost an hour and a half? Don't you think it's weird she's still here… by herself?"

As if she heard them talking, the brunette looked up tiredly, blinking into the darkness. "Maybe we should see if she's alright," Addie added. "It's not normal for some girl to be doing that this late. She looks really young too."

"Addie, I'm sure she's fine. Maybe her boyfriend works at the restaurant or something and she's waiting for him. Come on, we have work tomorrow. I'm tired."

With one longer glance at the girl, Addie nodded and got into the car.

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**Considering I've never been to Southern Pines, I don't know what is around Gas Chamber Ink, so I just made it up for my story's sake. And I don't know if Shannon smokes and what he does if he does, so I made that up as well. Just for a little more added information, Ella is supposed to look considerably younger than she actually is. So even though she's twenty-five, she looks about twenty tops. Okay? Yeah, shutting up now. Read and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello peeps! I am very sorry for the wait of this chapter. I wanted to finish it sooooooo long ago, but it was just not coming to me with what I wanted, so I wasn't able to update any sooner. I pushed though the mess though and I hope that this chapter is pretty good, if not great. Now, as for this, you'll learn more about Nia in this, who is the army wife, if you don't remember. She's the one who is five-months pregnant with a baby girl. And then there is a bit about Addie, the pet shop owner later on and something very... odd, I guess. If you haven't figured out which girl is with which guy at the end... well, I'll tell you, haha. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews and please, please, PLEASE enjoy!

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Nia threw her work shirt off while she watched it fall to the floor. She then turned and ran into the bathroom, staring at her face which was blotchy and red, mascara ruined along with her eye-shadow. It was unbelievably hard to be without David all the days, experiencing all the things they were supposed to undergo together alone. Feeling the baby's first kick, going to the sonograms with her, picking out clothes and just… being there. No one understood how hard it was to be practically alone in this. Her parents were around, but it wasn't the same as the intimate and loving touch of her husband's.

Slumping down on the floor, her hands wrapped around her belly with the warm feeling the large bump around her, Nia sighed again. The baby had been somewhat quiet all day during her shift, much to her surprise. Her mother joked that the baby was definitely David's because of all the ruckus she happened to make. Emma constantly kicked inside of her, moved, and found her favorite place to be was leaning against Nia's bladder.

When she looked back up, her eyes caught a picture frame that immediately made her tear up once again. It was the picture of herself and David from their honeymoon in Hawaii, David's arm proudly and lovingly around Nia's waist. She had this wide, confident smile on her face while she leaned her pregnant-less body against his. They always seemed to fit; they always seemed perfect. _I miss you so much,_ she thought sadly.

She ached for a phone call. It was hard to get in contact with him these days as he was in constant motion and without stable phone availability. Going through the pregnancy would be so much easier if she could just hear his voice once a day, cheering her on, reminding her that she was beautiful and strong. Now, she only had herself to do that every morning while the mirror reflected something she didn't believe to be that. They say when you're pregnant you have this glow to you, but she saw her darkened aura instead.

The phone ringing shocked her and excited her at the same time. She wobbled to her feet and moved quickly to get it, hoping to hear his voice on the other line. Much to her disappointment, it was her mother. "Hello, Nia," her mother said happily. "I just thought I'd check in on you before I went to bed tonight."

Nia slumped onto her bed, frustrated. "I'm fine, Mom."

The irritation showed through her voice. "Nia, Darling. I'm just—"

"I'm _fine_, Mom." She loved her mother but sometimes, she wondered if she trusted her at all. All around her she had neighbors; she knew what to do if her water was to break earlier than expected. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, Nia…"

Nia dropped the phone down on the bed, standing back onto her aching feet. She couldn't stay here. It was much too big of a house for her to be in alone, so she decided to go for a drive. Grabbing her bag and her keys, she got to her car within seconds. She didn't know where she was going, nor did she really care. If it meant not sitting alone in an empty house, it was fine by her.

She ended up stopping at the downtown music store. It was large, very secluded with dim lighting and usually soft rock songs. The people who worked there were very laidback, always chatting with costumers about indie artists and new CDs. When she walked in, the guy working smiled warmly at her, waving as if they were old buddies. She quickly greeted him and took off toward the used CDs, hoping if she was going to spend money that she truly didn't have, she'd spend less on those.

Ten minutes later, she had plowed through about five CDs of artists she wasn't aware of, or normally didn't give a listen to. She was on an artist by the name of Jordan Daryl when she felt someone come up beside her. At first, they didn't even recognize her presence. They reached right in front of her, rudely, their face covered by a hood. Nia stared at them, very annoyed while they flipped to the backside of the CD cover.

Shaking her head, she picked up the Jordan Daryl CD and began to read the track listing.

"He's great."

Nia looked up, staring at the rude individual to her left. Did the person just speak to her about something as minor as that, when he couldn't even utter an "excuse me" before?

The person took off their hood, revealing someone with a wild style to her. He had magical green eyes that caught her off guard immediately; she loved green eyes. David had pale green eyes, almost pastel. But this person's weren't that color. They were almost bright emerald; they captured attention. In fact, everything about this person captured attention. From their wild green and purple hair, to their brightly proud smile, even to their facial hair; they screamed confident.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

Nia blinked several times, realizing she had zoned out thinking about him. Lacing a smile on her face, she pushed away her first impression of him and put her hand out. "No, my fault. I'm Nia."

The person also smiled, showing a proud, gorgeous beam. Another confident aspect of them. "I'm Jeff."

"Hi, nice to meet you." It grew quiet in the corner of the music store. The music had dulled to just a piano and a light guitar, tapping out a rhythmic beat that played well with the moment. "So, he's good?"

"Nah, I said he's great." The grin widened on his face. "He's got some cool beats and some awesome lyrics. At first, he seems a bit strange, but he's got the heart of music in him, I think." Jeff's eyes wavered down to Nia's parading stomach, obviously picking up on something he hadn't noticed before. "Oh, when are you due?"

"Just a little over four months." She placed her hands lovingly on her stomach, smiling warmly. "I hope this little baby enjoys music as much as her mommy does."

"I'm sure she will. You're having a girl? I mean, if you don't mind me asking these questions. I did just barrel in on something considered private…" Jeff suddenly seemed unsure in standing there. He visibly tensed and looked up for approval.

"No, its fine," she reassured him warmly. "I stepped out of my house for that reason. And yeah, I'm having a girl."

"Wonderful." The conversation lulled to a stop, slowly but surely becoming uncomfortable as the two strangers realized that there was nothing else to talk about other than something like the weather. Not that either of them were going to bring that up.

"Well," Nia said, noticing the awkwardness growing. "It was very nice to meet you, Jeff. I'm going to get home now. Have a great night."

Jeff nodded, watching the pregnant woman go. She waddled forward, smiling shyly at him once more before disappearing behind the Rock and Roll CD case and out of sight.

-

Addie got home and changed out of her clothes from the day and into pajamas. She yawned involuntarily while she changed the water out of her bird's cage, the little parakeet chirping at the arrival of her owner. She smiled lovingly at the blue and white bird, whistling back at her. Then, she put more food and water in, and began to walk toward her bed. It had been a long day and she was eager to slip underneath her covers.

Her three cats, Maggie, Jingle, and Minna, were all lounging on the end of the bed, waiting for her arrival. As if on cue, they all meowed at her and came barreling toward her while she slipped in beneath the covers.

With them snuggled around her, she fell asleep.

_He smiled at her, his lips light pink and put together firmly. He had dark, mysterious eyes that were also very friendly and warm. He got closer toward her, putting out his hand as if they were about to dance. For some reason, she took his hand, feeling the soft, yet rough texture of them beneath her much smaller and rougher hands. Working at a pet shop did that to a girl._

_"You're beautiful, Addie."_

_She giggled involuntarily. "I know."_

_He laughed at her confidence, brushing some hair behind her face and then lightly kissed her on the lips with his. She couldn't help but giggle again, feeling his stubble tickle her cheek. Only seconds later, her hands were tangled in his messy black hair, their clothes partly off._

_"Addie, touch me…"_

_She did as she was told, moving toward the man. "I really like you—"_

**_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_**

* * *

**Okie dokie, like I promised: Jeff-Nia, Shannon-Ella, Matt-Addie. Was that clear? I hope so. You'll find out more about Addie's... well, "thing" later on... I promise, hehe. Read and review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Heeey, peeps. Wow. Okay. This chapter is going to be long and I wrote it in less than an hour, which I find pretty cool and I hope there aren't too many errors in it grammar and spelling wise. I don't think so, but I'm not double checking it. I really like this chapter and I think y'all will too. Thanks for the reviews and keep 'em coming! Enjoy!

* * *

Addie woke up flustered and frustrated. She had been having that dream for weeks now. Each time she would get close to figuring out the man's name, she would wake up or the dream out just blur into nothing. He was familiar to her—that much she knew—but she couldn't place him. As if it wasn't bad enough that she was having sexual dreams about a man she didn't even know, she enjoyed them. Her last boyfriend, Aaron never told she was beautiful, nor did he seem to want to go further than kissing. That was probably why they had broken up three months into the relationship.

Slowly, she got out of bed and stretched. It occurred to her that the man in her dream might not even be real. Perhaps he was a figment of her imagination gone too far; a conjured Prince Charming that would never be in her grasp. Although she loved her animals, Addie still wanted more than that. This dream showed that someone—hopefully that wasn't fictional—wanted her as well.

It wasn't just a dream to her anymore, considering the three week period it had spanned over. It was a full-out fantasy that took over her mind for the eight hours of sleep she got each night.

"Just go to work," she muttered to herself. She hadn't even told Molly about it yet. Actually, she was slightly embarrassed about it. In high school, Addie had been quite the shy girl and Molly would get a kick out of what she was exactly dreaming of. "Just go to work…"

About an hour later, Addie turned the key into the Pet Shop door, being welcomed by an array of animal-voices, from birds to the squeaks of guinea pigs, she smiled. They were always a distraction. "Good morning," she said softly to the pregnant guinea pig on her right. "How's Momma doing this morning?"

The guinea pig, actually called "Momma" by all the employees at the shop, looked up lazily, squeaking once. Addie smiled and walked toward the check-out area, setting her bags securely behind the trash bin and then she walked toward the dog cubicles, making sure all the puppies still had water and food. She filled those who didn't and continued to check all the others that lived in the pet store as well.

She didn't even hear it as Molly came in for her morning shift until she scared her half to death. "Hand me the animals and no one gets hurt," she whispered deeply into her ear. Addie was about to believe whoever had snuck their way in until she got a smell of the perfume that her best friend had worn for years.

"God, you scared me!" Addie whined. "Don't do that."

"The shop isn't even open yet," Molly teased. "Who else would I be?"

"Some sick freak," Addie mumbled, shaking her head. She dropped some food into the bird cage and then walked back toward the register. Her best friend followed her, still giggling. "I don't know about you, but I am still tired."

Molly grinned. "Me too."

"That grin makes me think you did more after dropping me off last night."

The blonde girl continued to grin mischievously. "Maybe I did."

"You whore," she shoved her friend, who laughed a little. "You need to stop stringing John along. Poor guy."

Before Molly could reply, someone knocked on the door of the Pet Shop. Both girls looked toward it, but only Addie froze when she saw who was standing on the other side of the glass, mouthing about the opening time. It was the man from her dreams.

-

Ella shivered as the morning's cool air blew her hair in her face and awoke her in the park just down the street from the strip mall she had stopped at the day before. She wasn't thrilled about sleeping outdoors in an area that could have been bad, but she had no other choice. The fact that she made it through the night without any scary circumstances pleased her. There was a blanket around her, oddly. She knew she have one the night before and this confused her.

However, when she looked up, she saw the guy with the girly name staring at her from a few feet away. He looked absolutely exhausted, with heavy bags under his eyes, a heavy coat on to protect himself from the cold.

"What are you doing here?" she called across the park. "And why are you watching me?"

Shannon, noticing that Ella had awoken, stood stiffly and walked across the grass to sit next to her on the bench. "I happened to see you on my way back from my shop last night," he explained. "I decided it wasn't safe for you to be out here, so I went home quickly, got a blanket and thought I'd keep look out." He paused, rubbing his eyes. "I would have woken you up and asked you to come back to my place, but I wasn't sure how you would have reacted."

Ella smiled. "I would have accepted, probably. It's fucking cold."

Shannon chuckled, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and lighting one. When he looked up, Ella was still staring at him, an eager expression on her face.

"Can I bum another?"

He rolled his eyes and tossed her one, shaking his head. "Are you even sure you're old enough to be smoking?"

Ella snickered, shaking her head. "Why am I not surprised you think I'm like seventeen? I'm twenty-five, for your information."

There was a brief pause in the conversation, which Shannon took to study the pretty girl before him. His first thought when seeing her the day before was something like that she was a runaway who wanted to rebel, definitely underage. He wasn't exactly sure—no, he was definitely sure—that she was not twenty-five. "Okay, really. How old are you?"

She sighed, as if she was used to this and pulled her ID out of her bra, much to Shannon's surprise. "See?" she asked. "Twenty-five. Thanks for being ignorant."

"Sorry," he muttered, putting his hands up. "You really don't look twenty-five."

Ella smiled a little, nodding. "I know." She inhaled with her cigarette and then blew out the smoke, right into Shannon's face. She was pleased to see it annoyed him. "Oops."

"I guess that was my payback, huh?"

"Yep."

"So, what's your deal?"

"My deal?" Ella asked.

"What are you doing here?" he corrected himself. "You said yourself you're not from here yesterday. I think my heroic act of chivalry should owe me an explanation."

Ella snorted. "No one told you that I needed to be watched."

Shannon smiled a little. This girl was very rude but he strangely enjoyed it. She hadn't showed one ounce of gratitude since she had woke up. She hadn't thanked him for watching her, nor had she thanked him for polluting her lungs.

"Yeah, but come on. You have to be fair."

"No, I don't. Life isn't fair. You should know that." She tossed her cigarette onto the ground, smashing it with her old sneaker heel, twisting it until it was nothing but tattered pieces on the ground. "Besides, I'm nothing interesting."

"I'd rather be the judge of that."

Ella shrugged. "I got dumped, how's that?"

He wasn't following her. She was dumped; how the hell did she end up in North Carolina? "Uhm. You lost me, Ella."

Men were so stupid. Shannon was just like any other man in that respect. Looking at him, she found herself oddly smiling at his confused, boyish face. It didn't seem to fit with all his tattoos and piercings. The smile quickly faltered as she reminded the memory of the day before, though. "He dumped on the highway on the way home. I told him that I loved him and he told me to get lost. I had a lovely boyfriend, right?"

"Ouch. Sorry."

She shrugged. "He was only good for one thing, really."

Shannon snorted at the idea she was probably getting at. "So, where are you from?"

"Florida. Or at least, formerly. I was kind of living with him so I don't really think I have a home now. My parents told me to get lost when they found out I was moving in with them. I laughed in their faces because I thought we were destined to be together forever. I never thought they would be right about him. He really was a good for nothing asshole."

"So, let me guess. You're sleeping here from now on, huh?"

She smiled. "Well, at least until I get some cash. I got a job at—oh shit. What time is it?"

Shannon shrugged and flicked open his phone, reading the time. "About ten. Why?"

"Fuck," she groaned. "I'm so screwed."

"Why?" he repeated. This girl was ruthless. He liked her already. So… what was wrong?

"I was supposed to have an interview with the pizza place next door to your shop. But I was supposed to be there at nine. That dickhead of an owner is never going to officially hire me now."

"Arthur? Oh come on. He's a big bear…"

"Yeah, a big bear with monster teeth. I'm screwed."

Shannon laughed, pulling her up. "Come on," he said quickly. "I'll talk to this big, scary bear for you and make sure you get the job. But… on one condition."

Ella rolled her eyes. "I knew you were too good to be true," she muttered.

This only made Shannon's grin widened. "Do you want to know the condition?"

"Whatever, I guess."

"You're staying at my place until you get your self back up on your feet. I'm not staying up every night in these kind of temps. Understood?" She was going to protest, but decided against it. It was a place to stay, and it meant she could take all her crap out of her bra now and put it back into her pocket. Shaking her head, she followed after Shannon, realizing that this would be the best choice.

"This is the start of a beautiful friendship," Shannon called over her shoulder. "You'll see."

-

Addie continued to gasp at the man on the other side of the door while Molly went to answer it. She couldn't move. There was no way this was happening. "Addie," Molly hissed. "What's the matter with you? Give me the keys." Apparently, Molly had asked for the keys to open the door. Animatedly, she tossed them at her best friend and hurried to the cash register, suddenly frightened.

"Hi," Molly was saying. "How can we help you?"

"I'm actually just looking for a bag of dog food. I ran out this morning and my dog Lucas is going to eat me if I don't find him something soon."

Her fantasy boy's attempt of humor failed, but she couldn't help but keep watching him, mystified. This really couldn't be happening. "Addie!"

"Huh, what?"

"I asked if you could go get a bag of Iams for our customer," Molly repeated, rolling her eyes. She hurried to get the bag while her friend muttered, "Sorry, I don't know what's gotten into her."

"It's okay," the man chuckled. "She's forgiven."

Molly, sensing why, smiled. "She's single, you know."

"Oh?" the man asked, smiling. "Is she?"

"Yeah," Molly said. "You should ask her out."

Addie came back seconds later with a bag of dog food, setting it down on the counter, and then she rang it up. "That'll be fifteen seventy-five."

The man smiled, walking up to the register. "It'll be credit."

"Okay," she whispered, too scared to speak. He was even more beautiful than in her dreams and now she knew she would get to know his name because he would have to sign it on a slip of paper before leaving. She watched as he punched in the necessary things on the machine beside her and then quickly handed him the credit slip to sign, so eager to finally know his name. He thanked her after signing it, tossing the large bag of dog food over his shoulder effortlessly as he walked toward the door, wishing them a good day.

Addie picked up the signed slip seconds after he went out of sight and tried to decipher is somewhat sharp handwriting. "Oh God," she muttered. "I know why he's so familiar now."

Molly, who was leveling cans of wet cat food, looked up. "What?"

"Nothing," she muttered, holding the slip of paper in her trembling hands. He was one of the famous wrestling brothers from Cameron. Matt Hardy.

* * *

**I enjoyed the Ella-Shannon scene very much. I have high hopes for this story, like some of you might have read on Twitter. Also, I will be putting up some pictures I made of the couples in this story on my profile, which look pretty cool if I do say so myself. Anyway... Read and review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Well, hey. Uhm. I know, I suck at updating lately. But I hope this chapter makes up for not updating in such a long while. THANK YOU for the reviews. I love them a lot. And yeah. This chapter is pretty long and it features each of the girls too. I really like this chapter as well... I think that's about it for my rambling. Enjoy!

* * *

"You definitely owe me." Shannon stood with his arms firm over his chest, trying hard not to crack a smile at the young looking woman before him. He had just saved her ass from getting chewed apart from Arthur, the owner of the pizza place next door to his tattoo shop.

Ella glared at Shannon. "If you wanted something in return—other than the housing agreement—you shouldn't have fucking offered. I have nothing for you."

He tried not to raise his eyebrows while he softened his expression. "Ella, I was just kidding. I don't expect anything from you. I know how hard it can be to get back on your feet after a shitty breakup."

She looked at him, his apologetic expression and careful eyes, feeling horrible for snapping at him. But she didn't play games like that at all. Her ex was one who would insist he wouldn't pay a bill until she "gave him what she owed" which would be his idea of fun, rough and violent sex, to which she would wake up with bruises the size of her fists. She didn't want to return down a path of owing anyone anything.

But she already did. She _did_ owe Shannon something for getting her the job. If not, she would be sitting in that park right now, feeling miserable and helpless. At least now she could get some cash and get her life back together.

"Actually," Ella finally said carefully. "I do owe you."

"Ella—"

At his protests, she shook her head. "Take me back to your place. I have work to do."

He raised one eyebrow, tossing a cigarette butt onto the ground, following her swaying hips. His mind wandered for a moment, wondering what it felt like to touch those hips and hold them against his body. But only for a second he did so because after, he forced himself out of the fantasy, realizing he wasn't about to go after a girl who was obviously still hurting from a bad breakup that happened only a day's previous.

When they got back to his house, Ella stormed into the house, ignoring his jumping dogs as if they were nothing. She roamed around until she found the kitchen and stopped in the middle, grinning wildly. She loved the kitchen. It was the one thing that kept her sane with her ex would pick fights. It only took an hour to bake something that would make all her anger go away. Sure, it wasn't the best thing for her waistline, but she walked enough that it didn't really matter.

"Okay, why are you standing in the middle of my kitchen looking like some…? I don't even know what you look like. But why?"

Ella smiled. "You'll see." She stepped forward and opened up one of his cabinets, finding it bare except for an extremely old container of something brown. She frowned at it and shut the cabinet, opening the next. Inside this one was an empty bag of potato chips. Cabinet after cabinet she found nothing but dust and crumbs.

"What are you doing?" Shannon demanded.

She turned around, looking at him with disbelief in her eyes. "Do you live here? Because if you do, I find it hard to believe you're still alive."

"I live here," he confirmed slowly. "And why?"

"There isn't any food in this house!" She snickered. "And I thought when Nick was out of a job we had shit. How do you survive?"

"Take out."

Ella snorted and threw herself onto the old table near the edge of the room. She glanced around a few times and then grabbed what looked to be an old envelope and a pen, writing down things in tiny little letters. "Do you have any cash on you?"

"I have my debit card. Why?"

Boys were so dumb. She looked up at him and smiled widely. "Because we're going food shopping. I don't want to eat whatever that brown shit is in your cabinet. I think it's older than me."

"Considering how old you look, it's certainly possible."

She flipped around to glare at him and then marched toward the door, grabbing his keys off the counter. If he was going to be a smart ass, she was going to take matters into her own hands. He followed after her, much to her surprise, without any complaints. Even after she took the seat of his car and put the keys in the ignition. "Aren't you going to stop me from driving your car?" she asked as he stepped in the passenger's seat.

"Nah."

"And why not?"

Shannon shrugged. "I don't know. I kind of like how you're acting. It's amusing."

She shrugged as well and revved the engine as it started. Then, she turned on the radio and blasted a country station. Much to Shannon's surprise, of course. "What?"

"You like country music." This wasn't a statement, it was a fact.

"Is there a problem with that?"

He didn't say anything for a moment and then looked at her with a small smile. "Can I just say that you're full of surprises? One after another."

She smiled too as they pulled onto the main road. "Baby, I just got started. Wait until you see what I'm going to do with your house."

Nia was still thinking of Jeff the next morning as she got ready to take on the lunch shift at work. Normally, things didn't stay in her mind that long, especially since becoming pregnant, but he was still there, clear as day. The way he seemed to just… care. It was quite strange to her.

"How's my little Emma doing?" a voice cooed from behind her. She turned around to see Melissa, one of her co-workers standing there, talking to her stomach. "I bet she's in a good mood today!"

"I'm great, thanks," Nia laughed. She was used to people speaking to her stomach now, however she wished some would still talk to her face, too.

Melissa stood up and smiled warmly. "Good afternoon! How are you feeling?"

"Fat," Nia grumbled. "I couldn't fit into my favorite pair of pajamas last night."

"It comes with the territory," Melissa said, shoving her order pad into her pocket. Her co-worker had a kid of her own already. A little boy named Michael and she knew all about the joys of pregnancy. "Have you heard from David?"

"No." The conversation was not something she was eager to bring up. In fact, she didn't want to speak about it at all. So, carefully, she grabbed her first tray and brought it to her table, ignoring the babbling Melissa the entire way.

"Is everything okay?"

"Of course," Nia assured her. "Why?"

The slightly older woman shrugged. "You just seem a little jumpy today. I thought maybe you had a rough night or something. I told you, if you ever need anything to call me. It's hard enough being pregnant, but living alone and being pregnant—"

"I'm fine," Nia snapped and immediately regretted her tone. "I'm fine," she repeated with a softer one. "I'm just a little tired. I couldn't sleep last night. You know?"

She nodded, not quite believing her. "Yeah…"

Assured that Melissa would leave her alone now, Nia turned around and found a big surprise waiting for her. It was Jeff from the night before standing at the opening of the store, waiting to be seated. Next to him was another handsome man, slightly taller and thicker. Both were laughing and shoving one another, completely happy it seemed. Quickly, before anyone could notice her shocked expression, she clamped her mouth shut and strutted (more like waddled) toward the entrance, keeping her head low.

"Hi, welcome to Cracker Barrel. If you follow me, I'll lead you to your table."

She had only walked a few feet when she knew she had been spotted. "Nia?"

As if she didn't realize that it was Jeff, she looked up and smiled. "Oh, hi. From the CD store, right?" Like she didn't remember. She couldn't get that damn man out of her head!

"Yeah, Jeff. This is my brother Matt." The taller one smiled politely, looking at his brother curiously, as if to say "who's she?" but didn't say anymore. Nia quickly led them to a table and had them seated, swearing she'd be back in a few minutes to get their orders. Once alone though, she sucked in a deep breath. Of all people to show up at her job, they had to? More so, Jeff?

It dawned on her then who they were and it surprised her that she didn't realize it before. Jeff and Matt Hardy – the Hardy Boyz from the WWE. They were a local legend around the area. … Maybe that was why she couldn't get him out of her head.

She turned around and glanced at them again. This time, both had on serious expressions, Jeff's almost anger and Matt kept looking at her, flashing eyes that almost scared her. What was his problem?

"You're acting strange," Molly said to Addie later that day while they stocked some cat toys on the shelf. "Ever since that guy came into the store here you've been acting like there is some huge secret I'm not in on. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Addie responded, trying not to get defensive. It was hard enough not to tell her friend about the fantasy dreams she was having. Not only was it embarrassing, but she was fantasizing with a man that was world famous, even if she wasn't aware that's who it was at the time. She was sure her friend would laugh at her, or even call her weird for the dreams. "He was just cute."

It was innocent enough to make Molly go wild. "I TOLD HIM THAT HE SHOULD ASK YOU OUT. BUT HE DIDN'T. What a dumbass."

"Hey." She blushed. Did she just stick up for a man she didn't know? "I'm sure he's not a dumbass. Maybe he's just shy…"

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Someone as cute as him, shy? As if." Then, she noticed her friend's wounded expression, as if Addie wasn't good enough for him. "Okay, maybe he is shy. It's possible. Or maybe he thought you weren't interested. You are interested, right?"

_More than you know,_ Addie thought and shuddered. If only she could find the reason to why she was dreaming about him though. "He's cute," she said slowly. "But I don't know him."

"And the way to get to know him is by a _date_."

"Well, maybe if he wasn't just some random customer, that wouldn't be a PROBLEM, Molly! I'm never going to see him again."

Her best friend laughed. "Oh, Addie. If he's interested, he'll come back. You can count on that. He definitely seemed so, at least. And like I said, if he wasn't, he's a dumbass. A cute one, but still, a dumbass…"

A smile crept onto her face at this. Maybe he would come back and she could find out more about the wrestler. It was so funny, dreaming about a wrestler she didn't really even care about before she knew it was him. And maybe they would go on a date. How could would it be to say you went on a date with a pro-wrestler? But she wouldn't go on the date for that reason. She'd go on the date because he was cute and seemed like a nice guy.

Now to get him to come back.

"So you really think he'll come back?" Addie asked hopefully.

Molly grinned; pleased her friend was finally grasping how exciting this really was. "Oh, he'll be back. Trust me."

* * *

**I really liked the scenes. Especially the Ella/Shannon one and the Addie one too. Anyway... Read and review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello! Hope this chapter is worth the wait - it came to me while I was working today. It's kinda short, but I wanted to leave off where I did - it made sense to me. So... yeah. Thanks for the reviews - I love them! Keep them coming, peeps. Enjoy!

* * *

Molly was absolutely right with her prediction. Her once mystery fantasy walked through the door, as if to be on a mission the next day. He semi-resembled a wet dog (it was pouring), but the smile that made her knees weak was enough to distract her from his appearance all together. It was hilarious to her now that she had only called him cute earlier as it was obvious that he was so much more than that. Matt Hardy had a sweet face, one that was warm and confident with a smile—although he didn't show his teeth—that was very trusting.

"Good morning," Addie greeted automatically, her best "cashier" smile on. Her hands were placed on the counter where they were taping the cheap plastic cover (a nervous habit), while her eyes were trained on his. It was such a bizarre moment as he didn't speak, nor did she have the power to say anything more. The feeling she got was as if he had paralyzed her with his eyes.

Finally, Matt seemed to break the gaze and cleared this throat. The smile slowly vanished from his face and those large, very strong looking hands ran through his ponytail, giving Addie more of a reason to so-called "drool".

"Can I help you with something?" she squeaked out, knowing her face was becoming a bright crimson, one of the worst problems of being a redhead. While others blushed, redheads seemed to ignite on fire when embarrassed.

He looked up as if he was caught doing something wrong. "Uh… oh, well I guess so." Matt laughed a little, looking to the floor. "Actually, I've come to speak with you."

Addie's heart was beating at a rapid race, so fast and loud she was sure Matt could hear it. "Oh, sure. What's up?"

"I should have listened to the other girl yesterday," he explained. To his knowledge, she didn't know of the conversation between her co-worker and himself, so he added, "She told me to ask you out. I should have. So, will you?"

She smiled. "Me?"

This somehow seemed to calm Matt. "Well, I'm certainly asking the only human in this shop right now. I don't need another dog as a date."

"Well," she said, trailing off. "Sure."

To say she was hiding her excitement and brushing off the question as an everyday thing was an understatement. Matt's face lit up and he smiled gratefully. "Okay, great." His eyes trailed toward the dog section of their store. "And while I'm here, I should pick something up, I guess. What do you think?"

It was clear that he was already in another world. "What?"

"Oh, well, my dog, Lucas. He's just had surgery and well, I wanted to get him something small, you know? Like a toy, or a treat. Something that'll make him feel better. He's officially handicap." Matt grinned sheepishly.

Addie's face grew serious. "Handicap? What happened?"

"He lost a toe," Matt explained. "It had a tumor in it and the doctors wanted to make sure it didn't spread."

"Oh…" Addie nodded. It seemed as if Matt had made the situation be more dramatic than it was. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

Matt walked toward the dog aisle, staring at the variety of toys before him. He finally reached up and picked a stuffed cat, walking back over to Addie. However, her mind wasn't there anymore. She was thinking about those dreams where she would touch Matt, feel the warmth of his skin next to hers, while the cool touch of his breath was on her neck. The feeling was more than anything she had ever felt. And it was just a dream. She could only imagine how incredible it would feel to her in real life. Just the touch of his fingertips to her skin would be…

"Hello uh… I don't know your name, so…" He was trying to get her attention, blinking rapidly through thick eyelashes – just like in her dream.

"Oh!" she yelped, much louder than she meant to. The redhead factor immediately set in and her face turned the color of her hair. "My name is Addie."

"Matt," he answered. "Matt Hardy."

She resisted answering with an 'I know'. She didn't want him to think the only reason she was going out with him would be because he was famous. Although, the fantasies she had before would probably make him madder.

Instead, she smiled warmly and rang up the toy, tossing it into one of their bags. Then, she picked it up and put it right into his hands, brushing his skin on accident. She felt a rush there and pulled back, embarrassed that she was showing her feelings so clumsily today, even if Matt seemed to return them.

Matt didn't seem to notice this and leaned forward. "So, when is our first date?"

She grinned much more confidently than she felt. "Whenever you want."

"Good," he laughed, a little surprised by her answer. "I'll pick you up tonight. Just leave me your address and I'll see you around seven?"

"Sounds awesome." He nodded as she scribbled down her address, handing it to him. They locked eyes as he nodded once more, slowly backing up toward the door. Matt fell into a display of dog bones, knocking a few to the floor. He grew a shade of pink while Addie tried not to giggle, happy to see it wasn't her embarrassed this time around.

"See you later, Addie," he said, restoring that confident feeling. "Okay?"

"Yes," she whispered as he walked out of the door. As soon as he was out of sight, she gave a little dance around the store, laughing as if she had just received her first kiss. She couldn't wait for a night with Matt Hardy.

-

She'd spent over a hundred bucks at the food store. Normally, that would have pissed Shannon off, but his house smelled damn good. He couldn't really get mad at Ella when she was making him dinner and had gotten him food – something he rarely remembered to do.

"It's all about a budget," she explained, stirring some kind of sauce. "You don't have to spend a lot of money at the store. Buy things in bulk and don't get things you want first. Things you need are more important. If you go over your budget, you only get a couple things that you want. Get it?"

"I don't see the point," he grumbled, trying to peek into the oven where a near heavenly smell was wavering from. She poked him in the nose and smiled warmly, shooing him from the kitchen. "Can't I just buy food?"

"No." She sighed and wiped her hands on her jeans, shooting him a glance of annoyance at the same time. "You men are all the same."

Shannon smiled a little as he took a seat at a table he rarely ever used. Ella was now grabbing a large bowl and tossing different salad-like objects into it. She sliced a tomato like a pro and then sprinkled shredded cheese over an already cut cucumber, looking down happily.

"Cheese?"

She turned and raised her eyebrows. "You've never had cheese in your salad?"

"I have," he disagreed. "But… it's not something I make a normality of."

"You should, it's good." She placed the salad on the table, smacked Shannon's hand away as he tried to steal a piece of avocado, and then walked over to the cabinet to set the table. When she was finished (without the help of the very lazy Shannon), she took out a plate of lemon chicken and set that beside the salad. She then grabbed a spoon and poured some mashed potatoes onto their plates. Finally, she grabbed two glasses and filled it with water. When she was satisfied she didn't forget anything, she sat down beside Shannon, a pleased smile on her face.

"Wow," he said, eyeing the food. "You did a nice job."

She rolled her eyes. "Get that look out of your eyes. I don't expect to become your slave."

"How about if I pay you?" he teased. "Then you're a maid."

"Shannon!" she laughed. "You asshole."

Shannon looked up to smile warmly at her and then dug into the food she had dished onto his plate. It was nice to have someone to cook a meal like this for him – he was so used to eating take out and going out to dinner with friends that he didn't even truly know how to cook. And on top of it all, she was waiting on him as if she were his maid; something he felt was a little too much.

The two settled into their food, but it only took seconds for Shannon to realize just how good of a cook Ella was. The food was flavored to perfection—not too strong, not too weak—and there wasn't a lump in any of the mashed potatoes. Ella had been right—adding cheese to your salad was good.

As he stuffed his face, he didn't think and said, "Man, I don't know why your ex dumped you. You make a good dinner."

Shannon didn't notice his mistake until he realized her fork hadn't moved again. He looked up slowly, seeing her guarded eyes glaring at his. She was furious – he knew that much. She then got up and stood in front of him, taking his plate of food and tossing it onto his shirt. "Asshole!" she hissed. He watched as she grabbed her jacket near the door and slammed it shut while she left.

"Shit," he groaned, for both his destroyed clothing and his retreating new friend. "Fuck."

* * *

**Ella is easily hurt, obviously. And yay for a date between Addie and Matt! Anyway... Read and review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello! Thanks for the reviews. Because Hailey is a pain, this chapter will be all about Nia, since I haven't spoken of her in a while. But she comes in more important later on in the story, right now... she's just kind of standing around. But things will heat up for her later on. I promise on that. Enjoy!

* * *

Nia couldn't believe the looks she had gotten from Jeff and his brother Matt that night. The once friendly eyes that belonged to the slightly odd man had changed to tested and angry, and she couldn't figure out why. After she had brought him the check, he simply thanked her without emotion—without _even looking up_—and turned away. She tried to smile at Matt, but he too was quite stoic.

"Men," she muttered, blowing a strand of hair from her face. She tossed her note pad down on the nearest counter and watched as they pulled out bills from their pockets.

She quickly walked over to the paying counter and waited, knowing they couldn't leave without coming up to her. It was Matt who came, his eyes guarded, expression otherwise unreadable.

"Ready to pay?" she spoke cheerily as possible.

"Yeah," he muttered, not looking up. "Here."

Matt nearly tossed the money at her and she had to bite her tongue to keep from spitting back at him. "Did you enjoy your meal?" she continued, her voice level. Maybe it was something to do with their dinner.

"Yeah."

She looked at him, forcing him to meet her eyes. "That's good. Well…"

"Look," he said lowly, shooting a glance at his brother, who was slipping on a light coat. "I don't know what you did to him, but keep the fuck away. He's got enough issues right now and we don't need a pregnant home-wrecker to be the next one. Okay?"

Nia felt as if she had been slapped clear across the face; his words burned just that much. She knew if she spoke back negatively it could cost her the only job she had. But she couldn't just let Matt speak to her that way. "Excuse me?" she finally forced.

"You heard me." He eyed her. "I meant every word."

"And I think you need to leave now," she hissed back. "Have a _great_ night."

Matt smiled sickly at her and walked out the door. Seconds later, Jeff appeared at the check out table, giving her a warm smile, something she definitely didn't expect. "Thanks for serving me tonight," he said kindly, dropping a twenty dollar bill before her. She stared down at it, then forced herself to look back at him. What the hell was going on? "You have a great night, okay?"

"Yeah," she said softly, watching as he left. "You too."

_"I don't know what you did to him, but keep the fuck away…" _

_"He's got enough issues right now and we don't need a pregnant home-wrecker to be the next one…"_

Pregnant home-wrecker? Those words were eating at her later that night while she lied on her bed, mind swarming with the angry expression and words that belonged to Matt Hardy. He seemed so furious with her and she had no clue why. She wasn't a home-wrecker by any means. She was happily married and had no intention of going after Jeff… so where did he get that idea? And what was with Jeff's calm demeanor once his brother was away?

She didn't understand. She wanted to know the things she obviously didn't. What did Matt think she had done? All she seemed to have done was speak to what she considered a friendly man at a music store. Nothing more. Where was the confusion in that?

Her eyes drifted absently to a picture of herself and her husband. It was from a few years back, just after they were married. He had his arms around her tightly, his lips on he forehead. She seemed so happy to be there in his arms, as the smile on her face said so. It was wide and confident, a young girl in love with a man of honor and trust.

She needed David now.

She missed him. Badly.

Her swollen stomach seemed to glare angrily back at her as she looked down at it and suddenly, she was sick. She got up and ran to the bathroom, feeling herself breakdown on the floor once more. Her hands were in tight fists at her side, tempting her to get rid of all the pain once and for all. She loved that baby inside of her—she truly did, but she didn't want to do this alone. She needed her husband and yet he was off fighting some stupid war.

"Dear God, help me," she moaned.

As a kid, she was very religious. Her parents were devoted Catholics and they brought her to church every weekend. She wore a pink, poofy dress each time. It reminded her of being a princess. She was always was careful to watch it in the mud, careful with her shiny black shoes as well. For the first time in years, she was brought back to that. She was so faithful to God back then. What had happened?

She looked up to the ceiling, begging for help. Asking for anyone to save her from the personal hell she was in.

Nia felt the warm tears pouring down her face. She wanted to scream, to do anything to stop the sudden and terrible pain she was in. Could God help her now? She hadn't spoken to him in years.

She sobbed, digging her fingers into her thighs, squeezing until the pain was no longer felt. She cried even more until there was a small, warming feeling in her heart. One that stopped her and made her drowsy, one that stopped the pain and let her fall asleep on the bathroom floor.

The next morning, she awoke to a sharp pain in her back, compliments of falling asleep on the bathroom floor. She wiped her tear-stained eyes and got up, staring at her scary expression in the mirror. It dawned on her that it was a Sunday. She looked down at her bulging stomach and then got an idea.

Quickly, she found a dress that still remotely fit and slipped on a pair of shoes that wouldn't kill her back. Then, she tied her hair back from her face, washed it, and slipped on some light make up.

Nia lived in this town all her life. Her parents still lived in the large ranch she lived in as a kid, and still went to the same church every Sunday. This would be her first time in over eight years. She was scared as she drove down the old road, seeing the even elder building, with family and friends swarming around the doors, waiting for the Sunday morning service to begin.

She parked her car away from the crowd and slowly stepped out. Right away, she saw an old friend from years before, standing there with her husband and three-year-old son. Kelly seemed to be exactly the same, still a beautiful brunette with a lot of spunk and happiness in her life.

She then saw her parents, still close as they were the day they were married. They stood proudly next to each other, her mother holding her father's arm tightly.

When was the last time she saw all of this?

It made her want to turn around and run the other direction. She didn't belong here. These were good people… she wasn't anymore.

"Nia?"

Her mother rushed to her daughter, a wide smile on her face. "Oh, Nia! I didn't know you were coming to the service today."

"I needed a little… support," she whispered quietly.

Her mother's face darkened at this. "Is everything okay, Sweetie?"

"Yeah," she breathed slowly. "Everything is fine."

She didn't seem to believe Nia, but didn't press it further. She instead, much like she had when she was a kid, slipped an easy smile on her face and pulled her arm around Nia's shoulder. "Well, then. Let's go see if anyone remembers my beautiful daughter."

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**Yeah. I think someone should be religious in this story. Not sure why. Nia seemed best. And her church goings will make more sense later on too... you'll see. Anyway... Read and review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hey! This chapter will all be of Addie and Matt's date. I think it deserves to be the entire chapter, and once more, thank you for the reviews. I love to read them. Enjoy!

* * *

Addie stared at herself in the mirror, frustrated with her appearance. She had on a simple black dress. "It's supposed to flatter you," she moaned at her reflection. "Every girl needs a little black dress and mine is against me!" She banged her hand on the table and collapsed onto the bed next to her, her wild red hair flying to the bedspread.

Her date was in less than an hour and nothing seemed to satisfy her whatsoever. She had tried on a pair of jeans that normally made her feel amazing and today they made her look bloated. She tried on a skirt that screamed "sexy" when she bought it, and now it said "grandma". The dress was her last resort; the kind of thing which she prayed would work for her.

It obviously didn't.

"Please God," she cried at the ceiling. "Make me beautiful."

Slowly, she sat up and stared at her reflection once more. Nothing had changed. "Ugh," she muttered. "I give up. I might as well wear my pajamas. At least that will hide my ugly figure!"

She decided on the dress, playing it up with a short pink jacket and one of her favorite bracelets. Then, Addie spent about fifteen minutes fighting with her make-up bag, giving up on that as well, deciding that mascara would have to do. She stepped up to the mirror again, looking at it with vain. The pout on her lips deepened at the sight of herself and she groaned, turning away.

"And Molly thinks I'm an optimist," she muttered. "Okay."

The next half an hour passed severely slowly. She stared at the clock as it mocked her, ticking at a pace even a snail could beat. She glared at it and turned her back to it, settling on staring at the wall instead.

A knock on the door got her attention. She smiled briefly, and then fear struck in her. She glanced at the space between them and felt herself panic. What was she doing? She couldn't go out with this man. No way. Somehow, she was going to slip up about her fantasies and he would think she was the biggest freak on the Earth.

But she couldn't leave him at the door waiting. She stood up and stared for a moment, and then walked over to where he was. "Now or never," she muttered.

Her smile came onto her face easily when she saw him before her. "Hi," she said with confidence she didn't know she had. "You look nice."

Matt's eyes roamed her body. "As do you," he grinned.

She blushed at the humor in his tone and backed away from the door, allowing him inside. She could feel him looking over her apartment. Addie wasn't sure if he was impressed or not, but she hoped he was. She wasn't the kind of girl to go overboard in decorations even though she did enjoy what she had for her own.

"A white couch, huh?" Matt mused, rubbing his hand over the somewhat worn in, but still clean looking fabric.

"Yeah… what's wrong with it?" Fear came into her chest… he wouldn't judge her on that, would he? She shook it off before he even answered. Matt didn't seem like the type to care how her house looked.

"Oh, nothing," he chuckled. "I was just thinking how in my house, we could never have something like this." When she still looked at him strangely, he continued, "It wouldn't be white for long."

Addie smiled. "Oh, I see."

They both nodded awkwardly for a moment and then Matt was first to bring back the conversation. "So… did you want to get going soon? I mean, I don't want to rush you, but I did make some plans we should get to soon."

"Of course," she blushed once more.

Matt smiled at this and walked over to her door, opening it easily. She walked over after him, surveying her apartment briefly and then following him to the hallway. She then locked the door and turned her attention back to him, and found Matt to be staring at her.

"Yes?" she teased. More confidence she didn't know she had.

"Just looking at your hair," he admitted. "It's nice."

"Thanks."

They walked in comfortable quiet down to where a pricey car was parked in the front of her building. She knew Matt had money, so this didn't come as a surprise to her. It even occurred to her that people were looking at the redheaded girl getting into the expensive car with the hometown-famous man. Although it made her slightly uncomfortable, she tried to brush it aside. He had all this money, and he was on a date with a girl who worked part-time at a pet store. Did she deserve him?

Addie wondered where Matt was taking her as he drove. He drove extremely fast, hardly paying attention to speed limits, never using a turning sign, and cutting people off regularly. She brushed it all off with a smile when he made a joke of it, but other than that, the car ride was also quiet.

She didn't want to make conversation, as she found it would most likely be awkward for her. The quiet they were experiencing then was not a problem, and making one was not something she wanted to do.

She did however realize they were coming to the downtown area of her town, right near where the pet shop was. There were several restaurants in this area, one being the town-loved Cracker Barrel which locals and tourists came to regularly. Not to her surprise, he stopped in that parking lot.

"I hope you don't mind Cracker Barrel," he said easily. "I figured it be a good place for a first date."

"Not at all," she assured him. "I love this place."

The wide grin came onto his face. "Me too."

They got out of the car and walked to the entrance together. Addie continued to sneak glances at him and found herself smiling once more. She was really on a date with this man—and so fast! They were seated at a table near the back by a very pregnant blonde waitress, who eyed Matt with a look of anger when he wasn't looking. Matt didn't seem to recognize her, so she shrugged to herself and looked down at the menu. Even though she was here on a few nights before, it always became a task to decide on what to order.

"Order whatever you want," Matt said, as if he read her mind. "I don't care."

She felt her heart race. "Oh no, I brought money to pay for my half of the bill."

"Addie," Matt insisted. "I want you to order whatever you want. I will pay the bill. Okay?"

"Matt…"

"It's okay," he smiled warmly. "You don't have to worry."

She wasn't worrying. It was the thing that always bugged her when she went out to dinner. At least if she paid her half of the bill, it didn't look as if she was expensive or cheap. Whatever she decided to get here would lay an impression down on Matt's mind.

Her eyes blurred as she looked back down at the menu. "Uh…"

"What looks good?"

Her heat sunk. She couldn't do this. Suddenly, she wanted to be back at home, in her bed with a romance movie on. "I don't know," she admitted. "There is so much to choose from on this menu."

Addie finally decided on a hamburger, after much persisting from Matt, still saying she could get whatever she wanted. But she didn't want to make a bad impression. Especially not on a first date.

When their meal came, she noticed the waitress had shot another glare at her date, her eyes flashing with anger. If he noticed, he didn't seem to care. Whoever this woman was, she had a problem with the wrestler. Several times Addie wondered if she should mention the strange woman, but decided against it. Why cause a problem that wasn't there to begin with?

"Is it good?" Matt's question caught her off guard. She tried to nod, but found herself unable to. The date wasn't going bad, but right now, it didn't seem all that great either. She had remained quiet during the dinner, barely uttering a word. He had seemed to want to talk as well, but since he didn't either, it was awkward.

She smiled for an answer and Matt smiled back at her. He had to think she was an idiot.

"So…" he trailed off, desperately trying to make conversation. "What's it like to work at a pet shop?"

"Good." She was such an idiot. How could she answer a question with something like that? "I mean… well… it's not all that big of a deal. You know?"

"Oh… yeah," he agreed. "I travel for my job. All over."

Addie wondered why he didn't say he was a wrestler. Maybe he thought she had no idea and wanted to keep it that way. It was probably a better idea to play along and pretend she didn't know he was world famous. "Traveling is nice. Where have you been?"

"Too many places to say," he chuckled. "If you name a place, I've probably been there."

"Really," she smiled. "That's nice. I've always wanted to travel. I haven't gotten much out of North Carolina though."

"You're a native, I'm guessing?"

She nodded. "Born and raised. I've been to a few other states around here, but that's about it. Have you been to California?"

"A lot," he admitted. "Why? Do you want to go there?"

"It's a dream," she mumbled. "I doubt I'll ever get there though. It's so far away, and it'd take me years to save up. Remember the other girl at the pet shop? She tells me I have my head in the clouds too often. She thinks the only way I am ever going to get there is if I stop talking about it and actually do it. I don't think I have the guts sometimes though."

Matt was quiet for a moment and then nodded. "A lot of people don't have the guts. But sometimes, it's not that which you need. It's more of living for the moment. You'll never get what you want if you don't try for it. You know?"

His words were very true, and she felt herself repeating them in her head. It was kind of how he asked her out. He wanted to, of course, but he originally didn't. It was Molly who probably made him remember and come back the next day. She wanted to be that impulsive. She could be, she knew. But it was hard.

"Definitely," she finally agreed. Addie glanced at Matt's plate; it was nearly empty. "Well… I think we're about ready for the check, huh?"

He looked down. "I think so."

A half an hour later, and Matt was driving back to Addie's apartment building. She was still very nervous around him, but found herself a little sad that the date was almost over. They did have several more conversations that night, but nothing that she would remember the next date as important.

She could see her building coming up. "Thanks for a great night."

He looked over at her, putting a warm smile on his face. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes."

"Good," he replied. "I did too. Would you like to go to dinner again soon?"

She smiled briefly, looking down. "Are you asking me on another date?"

"Are you going to say yes?"

"Yes."

"Then yes."

"I think there were too many yeses in those last few answers." She smiled widely back at him, surprised by her confidence.

"I think so too." Matt laughed a little as he stopped in front of her building. "Do you want me to walk you in?"

"No, that's okay," she assured him. "It's not that far of a walk. Thanks again for tonight."

"You're welcome, Addie." He touched her shoulder softly as she stepped out of the car. "I'll see you soon."

Addie waved and closed the car door, wondering why she didn't try for a kiss. Matt seemed more then willing and she basically cut him off. With a sigh, she shook her head and walked toward the door, still somewhat happy with how date was. The next time around would be better, she knew though.

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**Matt seemed too nice in this chapter. He needs to be... more Matt-like. Or maybe I just want to make Matt stupid. Hehe. Anyway... Read and review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Another update in less than a day? Yay! Hehe. Thanks for the reviews. I like this chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Nia was mentally and physically exhausted by noon thanks to her mother. She dragged her around as if she was some big thing that everyone had to know about. Because clearly, she was. With her husband overseas, her expanding stomach, and her lack of a college education, people seemed to look down on her. Girls that were once her friends—excluding Kelly—stood with their husbands and looked at her where she watched wearily, looks of distaste on their faces.

Did they think she was a pregnant homewrecker too?

Her mother still pulled her around, making her talk to some of the people she hadn't had a conversation with in years. They looked at her, her exhausted expression and had thoughts, obviously. Either her mother was ignoring this, or she was that oblivious. These people were no longer her friends; she was far from the good little church girl she used to be. When she stopped showing up for church, dropped out of high school to get married to David, and lost her first child to a miscarriage at nineteen, people talked.

And obviously, they still were.

Except Kelly. She had been watching her all day long, from church to the big group dinner with all the families her parents knew. When her three-year-old wasn't keeping her attention, she seemed to want to talk.

Finally, she made her way over to the pregnant blonde. "Hey, Nia. When are you due?"

"A little less than four months from now," she said softly.

"And David is still overseas?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We hope he'll be back in time for the birth of Emma, but I don't know if he will. It all depends on what happens over there. He could be back next week, or it could be a year from now. He's a part of something secretive and doesn't know many of the details."

Kelly nodded, brushing a piece of hair from her beautiful face. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard it would have been to be pregnant without Mike around. Or maybe that's just because I'm bossy and I wanted to make him do everything for me." She put a wide grin on her face and laughed. Then, her expression turned serious. "Well… good luck. I need to go make sure my son isn't destroying something and make sure my husband remembers he's the one driving home. But hey… if you ever need someone to talk to," she paused, pulling a pen from her bag and writing down her number on a piece of paper, "you can call me. Okay?"

Nia felt herself nodding again. It wasn't like she was ever going to use that number, but she wasn't about to be rude and say no. "Okay. Thanks."

The woman she was once friends with walked away. Even if she was still friendly with her, the others were not. And that was not going to change. She was a screw up for marrying David and she always would be.

Later that day, when her mother finally decided Nia had socialized enough, she drove around the small town and stared at the road before her, not wanting to go home. She found herself stopping at the CD store, getting out of the car and going inside. The feeling was just as nice and the employees seemed just as happy to see her. At least strangers didn't care to judge her here.

She walked over to where she had been the other day with Jeff, her eyes immediately going to the CD they had discussed. Nia didn't know why, but she wanted that CD suddenly. She picked it up, tracing her fingers over the smooth, cool cover, not really looking at it, but holding it for whatever reason she couldn't figure out.

"And so we meet again," a familiar voice said.

She turned to see Jeff coming toward her, his eyes friendly. "Hi," she said softly.

"Funny that we both came back here," he said with a laugh. He seemed to notice the CD in her hands. "Are you going to buy it?"

"Maybe," she wondered. "What are you doing here?"

"Escaping my problems," he said with a sad tone. "What about you?"

She felt a sour smile come onto her face. "The same thing."

Jeff Hardy had problems? Well, that wasn't something she expected to hear. While she knew that even celebrities had their problems, she couldn't expect him to really have them. Then again, Matt did tell her he was having problems too. And that she should stay away. What did that even mean? Just thinking about it made another worse mood come to her mind.

"Well, how about we escape our problems together?" he smiled. "Do you want to go get a cup of coffee?"

She wanted to say yes. She really did. "Well…"

"Come on," he smiled again. How could she resist that? "Just a cup of coffee."

Nia nodded. "Okay."

Twenty minutes later, Jeff was sipping on a large cup of coffee while Nia sipped on a large hot chocolate. He looked apologetic as she took another sip. "I should have realized coffee isn't the best thing for a pregnant woman," he said. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Nia mumbled. "I don't mind."

Jeff nodded and looked down at his hands and the coffee in them. It grew quiet in the already quiet coffee shop. The employee working was in the back and the only other person in the place was an older woman on a laptop. It quickly grew awkward.

"Look…" Nia started, unsure what she was going to say. "I just… well… you…"

"What?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just don't think we should be together right now."

His expression clouded at her words. He looked at her for a moment and then at the wall. When he didn't talk for a minute, she began to worry she truly did upset him.

Just as she went to say his name, he answered, "Matt must have said something to you."

"No, he didn't…"

"Yes," Jeff disagreed. "He did. I can tell by your expression. I don't know what he told you, Nia, but what it is, he's wrong or he's just trying to make a situation better with his big head. He thinks he knows what is best for everyone in this world, but he doesn't. Just know whatever he said, do not take to heart. Okay?"

"I probably should," she said softly.

Jeff gave her another sad expression. "And why do you say that?"

She played with the cup in her hands, not wanting to admit what Matt had said to her. "He called me a pregnant homewrecker, Jeff," she said quickly. "And I'm beginning to think it's true."

The anger that came onto Jeff's face scared her. His hands seemed to tighten around his cup, and he looked her right in the eyes. "Is that all he said?"

"He also told me to stay away from you."

"Well, don't," he replied angrily. "And don't listen to my brother anymore. He thinks he knows everything but he doesn't." He paused, and then continued in a softer, less angered voice, "Unless you want to stay away from me, don't listen to him. I'm going through some problems right now, but believe me, you're definitely not the cause of him, and he probably thinks you are because he … well, he's Matt. But like I said, unless you want to stay away, don't listen to him."

"Jeff…"

"Do you want to stay away from me?" he wondered.

Nia sighed. "No… not really."

"Then…"

"Jeff… this is…"

"This is what?"

Nia felt like crying. "I don't know. I feel as if I'm doing something wrong."

"Nia…"

She got up slowly, her back aching. "Look, I'm not listening to Matt here. I'm doing what's best for the both of us. I don't know what is happening in your life, and you don't know what's going on in mine, but I think it's best if we do stay away from each other because nothing good is going to come from it. Okay? Thank you for the coffee. Goodnight."

She walked away, tears slowly spilling from her eyes. She felt like such a baby for doing this in a public place, and now the woman in the corner was looking at her as if she was crazy, but she didn't care anymore. She just wanted to go home and wish tomorrow would bring baby Emma, and her husband David home.

-

After cleaning himself up, and trying to stop his dogs from eating what else had fallen on the floor, Shannon picked up his keys and got into his car, hoping to find Ella and apologize. It was stupid, really. He never meant to hurt her, and because he said something without thinking, she would probably hate him forever.

It didn't take long for him to find her. She was sitting on the same bench in the park, shivering in the cold. If she noticed him park and pull a blanket from the backseat of his car for her, she didn't seem to care. With a sigh, he stepped forward and said her name.

When she didn't answer, he stepped closer, unsure if he would upset her further.

"Ella?" Shannon tried quietly. "You look freezing. Can you at least take the blanket? You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to."

The brunette girl didn't answer, instead stared stoically ahead, her dark eyes frozen on something he could not see. Shannon stepped closer to the unmoving girl and put the warm blanket around her shoulders, still careful so she wouldn't hurt him for trying to help. It took a minute, but it occurred to Shannon she didn't care what he did, she did not want to talk to him.

However, he still took a seat next to her on the large bench, determined to change that.

"Look… I said something stupid. I'll admit that. I shouldn't have said it and I'm sorry. Please realize that…" His words trailed off and her expression changed slightly.

"Just go away," she whispered. "Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you."

"Ella, please. Just come back to my house then. You don't have to talk to me there. Just know I'm not leaving until you're in the car too. This may be a small town, but it's not safe for a girl to be—"

She turned suddenly to him, eyes focused. "What? It's not safe for what? A girl to be outside at night by herself. Well, you're wrong. I am perfectly capable of being here myself. I know how to protect myself and I don't need some moron like you telling me that I can't. So just go the fuck away. Go play hero for someone else. Okay?"

Shannon couldn't help but smile and before he could stop himself he said, "You're talking to me."

She got up just as quickly as she turned to look at him. He feared she was trying to run away from him, so he followed. In a matter of seconds, she turned to face him again, and with one swift kick, she nailed him in the stomach with her foot. Shannon crumbled to the floor and held his stomach in agony.

"See?" she said in a falsely sweet voice. "I can protect myself from idiots."

He coughed on the ground, the moisture sinking into his jeans. She did kick him pretty hard and his insides hurt. "I think you broke a rib," he muttered through coughing fits. "Thanks."

"You deserved it," she spat back, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. "When you're an asshole like that, you're going to get your ass kicked. Don't think that just because you're cute that girls will always fall over you. That's what my ex thought and I'm not getting anywhere back to that. So, think before you say something next time and maybe you'll realize that what you have to say isn't always something you should."

"I apologized for what I said!" Shannon yelled after her, stumbling over his feet to follow the quickly moving girl, the blanket he put over her shoulders draping in the mud. "Maybe it's not only me. Maybe if you weren't so quick to be defensive over what people say, you wouldn't be in this situation right now. Look, I'm not trying to be an ass here. But you'll freeze out here tonight. We don't have to be friends, but you better damn well know I am not going home until you are in that care with me."

Ella turned around, her face unreadable. "Oh yeah?" she asked. "And what makes you think I want to go home with you?"

"You don't," he disagreed. "But you need to. Stop trying to put up this tough girl act, because I see right through it. Just come home with me and I'll leave you alone. Okay?"

"No," she muttered. "It's not okay. I'm not going let some guy talk to me like that ever again."

"Get over it," Shannon yelled. "People are going to talk to you all your life in ways you're not going to like. But have the balls to accept an apology when one is given to you and stop being tough girl."

Tears fell from Ella's eyes quickly. "If I'm not that girl… people will take advantage of me. I'm too small and young looking not to…"

"Ella," he said softly. "Come on." He got up, and gently put his hands on her shoulders. When she didn't protest, or kick him again, he began to lead her toward his truck, trying to keep himself and her calm as well. He sighed in relief when she was securely in the passenger seat next to him.

She went to stay something, but he cut her off.

"Don't say anything," he whispered. "Let's just get back to my house so you can sleep. Whatever you have to say can wait until you have a good night's sleep. Remember, you start work tomorrow too."

Ella sighed, but nuzzled herself into the blanket and began to lull to sleep as Shannon drove them home.

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**Nia is going to be a mess soon enough. Actually, a bigger mess. And Ella kicked Shannon in the stomach. For some reason, that image makes me smile. Hehe. Anyway... Read and review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello again! Updating once more. Thanks for the reviews... as always. Enjoy!

* * *

The next morning, Shannon awoke Ella in time to start her job at the pizza shop. They didn't talk at all, but she did allow him to drive her to the shopping center and said she would see him when she got off at three. He could only sigh and agree, deciding since he was already there, he might as well take on some paper work at Gas Chamber Ink.

It was crazy though. Since the moment he dropped her off, he wanted to talk to her again. He wanted to make her understand that he was truly there for her best interest and wasn't trying to hurt her. He knew this girl was extremely hardheaded, yet still ached for her to understand.

Several times, he almost walked over to Arthur's. But he also didn't want to start a scene with her and get her fired. While Arthur was a friend of his, she was already on thin ice there and if somehow, her boss fired her on the first day, he had a feeling he would be the blame of this, even if it was not his fault.

Meanwhile, Ella was learning the ropes of her new job. Arthur still scared her, and he also expected her to learn a speed she could not keep up with. Maybe it was because she spent her night tossing and turning in a foreign bed, or maybe it was because she was in a whole knew place together, but she couldn't pick this up. Each time she would do something wrong, Arthur would raise his voice and scream at her, saying he did not owe her this job.

Much to her surprise, she wished Shannon was there to at least help. She knew if he was there, her boss would not be as tough on her. It was remarkable how easily he had gotten her the job back, yet once she was alone with Arthur again, he had turned back into a rude and unforgiving man. Could she do this without him? There was no way that her boss would keep her if she didn't pick this up quickly.

"STOP!" he barked, slamming his hands down on the counter. "Oh dear God, just stop. Take a break. Take as long as you want! I can't take this. I can't believe I hired you."

Ella backed away from the angry man. "But…"

"Just GO!" he yelled. "For the love of God!"

She did as she was told and stepped into the North Carolina air, finding herself unable to breathe. She gasped for breath and dug her fingers into the fabric of her jeans, determined to keep it together. She could not fall apart now; she had no where else to go. This job was her key to survival and she was blowing it. Never did she imagine being the girl in the shelter at night, but it looked as if this may happen. There was no way she could stay with Shannon forever, nor did she want to. But if Arthur let her go, what choice did she have?

Ella blinked back some tears and looked over at Shannon's shop. He was huddled over some papers, his face covered by a hat. It took her a minute to decide whether or not to go up to him. She didn't want to rely on him to keep her job, but Arthur seemed so unreasonable. Sure she said she could learn quickly, but she wasn't going to learn at the pace he was throwing at her!

Finally, she gave up and stepped inside; taking in what was Gas Chamber Ink.

Shannon looked up as she entered, faced with her crumbling face and shaking body.

"Ella?" he muttered quietly. "What's the matter?"

"I can't do this," she whispered as she collapsed to her knees, breaking down on his floor. He rushed to her side, unsure of what to do. Hugging her wasn't the best idea, especially since she was so unwelcoming to his presence the night before. "I just can't do this."

"Do what?" he asked gently. "What happened?"

Even though he knew there was a less protected girl beneath her attitude, it was slightly scary to see her breaking down in front of him. She was sobbing, her entire body shaking in his grasp.

"I'm never going to get out of here," she cried. "I can't do this."

"Can't do what?" he asked again. "Try to calm down and talk to me, Ella."

She sniffled, rubbing her nose with her palm. Then, she slowly stood up, and as if there was still a part of the tough girl inside of her, she grabbed his pack of cigarettes from his pocket and pulled one out. "I need this," she explained and walked outside.

He didn't follow her, but watched as she smoked, seemingly at ease. When she came back inside, she seemed to be less upset, even though she still had tears in her eyes. "He is horrible," she explained in a quiet voice. "He keeps barking these orders at me and he's just… horrible."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Ella sighed, sitting down in a nearby chair. "I don't know anymore. Why is this happening to me?"

"Why is what happening to you?"

"Everything."

Shannon looked at her sadly. "Ella, this is life. Stop feeing sorry for yourself."

"Have you met Arthur?" she challenged angrily. "I think I deserve a break."

"You do," Shannon agreed. "But to get there, you're going to have to fight for it. I have a friend. His name is Matt and he's had his fair share of problems in life. But you know what he does each time something knocks him down? He gets back up and puts everything he has on the table. And you know what? That's what you need to be like. When you want something in life, just talking about it isn't going to get you there. Same with wanting to make something better. Either deal with him, or get another job. There are plenty around here. You don't need to put up with people like him."

Ella ran hand over the other. "What if I can't find a job?"

"You will," Shannon insisted.

She sighed. "Okay."

-

Addie couldn't stop smiling each time she thought of Matt. She wanted to see him again, to really show him how confident and fun she could be. Sure, the night before hadn't ended badly, but she should have kissed him. He was probably used to getting laid on first dates, and she left without even a peck on the cheek.

When she told Molly this the next day, her best friend was close to throwing a huge bag of dog food at her head. "How could you not kiss something that damn hot, Addie?" she yelled, sending a hamster flying into the air. The gray hamster looked at the two employees, deemed them harmless and flopped back down onto it's bedding.

"Because I was nervous!" she yelled back. "He's famous!"

"Why does that matter?"

Addie shrugged. "I don't know. What if…"

"What if what?"

"I don't know," Addie admitted. "He just makes me so nervous. He's cute and funny, totally confident and he knows what he wants. I know what I want, but my confidence is near the empty button most of the time."

"So, let's fill you up!"

The redhead just stared at the girl. "What?"

"Put some gas into you," Molly explained. "But … not gas. As in clothes, make-up. Make you feel wonderful so you can act confident."

"I don't need clothes to make me look confident."

Molly shrugged. "Then what's the problem?"

"He's famous. That scares me."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Addie insisted.

"We are not getting anywhere." The two girls walked to the back of the store, dropping some of the dog food onto it's shelf. "I don't see why you can't be confident."

"Maybe because I'm shy?" Addie wondered. "It's not that hard."

"So it shouldn't be that hard to make you confident."

Addie glared at Molly, who was already looking at the door near the front. "What are you looking at now?"

Her best friend let a graceful smile slide onto her face and she turned the redhead to the door direction. "Look who is coming to see you." She nearly felt herself redden at the sight of Matt. He always looked so put together. Looking down at her frayed jeans, and ugly work shirt, she felt kind of out of place. She would look so much better if she had on some of her nicer clothes. Like last night. He seemed to like that.

Wasn't that confidence?

And why did she need so much of the stuff? She liked the way she was. Addie didn't always have to listen to Molly. Matt seemed to like her just the way she was.

He walked into the store, making his way toward her. She let a small smile come onto her face, and she walked forward, ignoring her best friend for once. Then, she tucked a strand of hair from her face, looking him clearly in the eyes. Just as he went to open his mouth to talk, she shook her head.

"What's the matter?" he wondered.

"Nothing," she whispered. "I'm just picking up where we left off last night."

Addie leaned forward, the small smile becoming a wide, excited smile as she felt their lips touch. When they broke apart, she looked down at her feet, then back at him. "What was that for?" he whispered.

"Something I should have done last night," she explained. "Sorry I didn't."

"That's… okay," he laughed. "I think you just made up for it."

Molly was standing beside them, her mouth open wide. "Do you mind?" Addie whispered into her friend's ear. "I think he wants to talk alone…"

"OH!" she yelped, nearly tripping over something. "I'm going to go… check something. Yeah. See y'all later."

Once she was gone, Addie looked back at Matt, who was laughing over the departure of her best friend. She motioned for him to follow her to the register, and then leaned on the old piece of crap. "So, what are you doing here? I don't think your dog needs something else."

* * *

**Shannon is gonna be a big help to her. And Addie... well, she is going to have some fun in an upcoming chapter... you'll see. Anyway... Read and review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello! Updating after a bit of not doing so. This chapter will be the opening to the fun I mentioned for Addie... and Ella. She'll have this fun too. Enjoy!

* * *

Matt Hardy ran a hand through his hair and then looked back at the curious redhead. "No," he finally said, a small smile on his lips. "He doesn't. I wanted to talk to you."

"So talk," she teased, smiling also. She had confidence… if only at times. But now she was more so interested that he had come all the way back to her job the next day just to talk to her. A phone call would work just as well, she believed, so he must either really like her, or whatever he had to say was needed in person. Maybe he didn't have a good time the night before… maybe he was coming to break off whatever kind of relationship they had. But, he had enjoyed the kiss… right? So he couldn't be breaking up with her… right?

She felt herself beginning to panic. What if she was imagining all of this? Could he…

"Addie?"

She peered up, fearing the worst. "Yeah?"

"Did you want to go?"

Go where? Had she missed an entire conversation? Her cheeks reddened at the thought and she tried to smile at him again. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said," he repeated, looking amused by her expression, "that my friends and I are going four-wheeling today and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

Addie almost said yes. It took all she had in her to bite her tongue and think for a minute. Four-wheeling? Any kind of sport made her want the run the other way… she wasn't good at physical kind of things like that. Once she got on that four-wheeler, she would make a fool of herself. Would it be worth spending time with Matt then?

She glanced at his patiently waiting, beautiful face.

Yes, it definitely would.

She leaned forward and sighed. "Okay, I'll go." He smiled. "But, I'm telling you right now. Remember what you like about me… I'm bound to make a fool of myself on those things."

Matt laughed. "It's not about being good… trust me. As long as you have fun today, you'll be just fine. What time do you get off?"

"In a little over an hour," she answered, glancing at the clock. Why couldn't she be off now?

"So, would picking you up at around two give you enough time to get changed into something older? Not to scare you, but if you where clothes you'll like, you most likely won't be able to wear them again."

"That's fine," she assured him. "I'll see you then."

Matt began to back up. "Great. Thanks, Addie."

She nodded as he walked out of the pet shop and was barely able to count to five before Molly came skidding to a stop in front of her, her face entirely excited, as if she was the one going on the date. "You are going to have so much fun!" she squealed, moving over to the side so she could shake her best friend. "Take pictures and lots of them!"

"Oh, sure," Addie muttered. "As I'm falling on my face, I'll make sure I'm taking a ton of pictures."

Molly shoved her. "You know what I mean. And I bet you're going to meet his brother! And his friends! It's only a matter of time until you're famous too."

"No way," she disagreed. "He hasn't even mentioned who he is yet."

"Maybe he thinks you know."

Addie grabbed some of the hamster toys and began to walk toward that area, Molly right behind her. She shrugged as she set them down. "I don't think so." She looked over at the blonde. "I think he thinks I don't have any idea that he's a world famous wrestler."

"Maybe you should tell him you know then."

"I am not doing that," she mumbled. "It'll make things awkward and I don't want to ruin this."

Molly shook her head as they walked into the back storage area. "So, what are you going to do? Pretend for the rest of your life that you don't know that your husband is world famous?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Husband?"

She grinned. "Just predicting the future."

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood, or I would attack you for that." She sighed, leaning against the wall. "I'll bring it up eventually, but just not right now. I don't want to make anything uncomfortable. If Matt wants to me to know, he'll tell me. I don't think he would pretend that he isn't famous forever. If he's even pretending. I bet he just wants to make sure I'm not trying to get into his pants."

"You obviously aren't," Molly teased, going back to how Addie had not kissed Matt the night before.

"You are asking to get hit today," Addie laughed, pushing Molly forward. "Now help me… what should I wear for this kind of thing… I'm thinking something cute…"

"Addie, you're going four-wheeling," Molly reminded her. "Not to the mall. Wear old jeans and a t-shirt."

"But that's not cute." The redhead pouted.

"Obviously."

She rolled her eyes as she pulled some boxes toward the door. "I just hope I don't make a fool of myself. I never met his friends before. I hope they're nice."

"I'm sure they are. Just remember, this time it's important to show that you're confident. Get him alone at some point and make his tongue tired." Molly's eyes were lit up at the idea in her head and she couldn't hold back a grin as Addie glared at her. "What?"

"Molly," she whined.

Molly smiled again. "Just know that I'm rooting for you and that's all that matters."

-

After another horrible three hours with Arthur, he told her to go home and she did so quickly. She walked to the doors of Shannon's shop, seeing him interacting with a customer who was excited. The girl's eyes were lit up as she talked quickly while waving her hands and jumping up and down.

Interested, she opened the door. Shannon looked up cautiously as she walked in and put up a finger. The girl turned around at this and looked at her. "Is that your girlfriend?" the girl asked anxiously. "Is she, Shannon?"

Shannon looked at the girl before him and then back at Ella. It seemed he was trying to decide what to say that wouldn't upset the excited girl. "Well…"

"No? Oh, good." The girl smiled at Ella and turned her back quickly to Shannon once more. "It's just a pleasure to meet you and I've wanted to meet you for years now. Many, many years."

"Ella?" Shannon said quietly. "Can you wait for me in the back?"

"Sure," she muttered.

He looked grateful as she walked toward the office area and closed the door behind her. She could still hear the girl's voice through the walls and rolled her eyes. She didn't even know her and she wanted to throw something at the girl. Why couldn't she leave Shannon alone? And who was she? An ex? No… but who?

A few minutes later, Shannon opened the door and smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. Excited customer."

She shrugged. "I see. So… what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

She followed him back into the main shop and waited for him to answer. He turned to her without an expression. Then, it spread into a wide smile. "How would you like to go four wheeling with some friends of mine today? My friend just bought a few new ones and he wants to test them out on his property. It'll be fun… just a few people."

Ella tried to hold back an answer. When she was younger, she loved to go four wheeling with her ex and it had been such a long time since she had. "Well…"

"Or you could sit in my house with the dogs."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't get much of a choice, do I?"

"Nope."

"I'll go."

Shannon laughed as she made a face while he got the things he needed to bring home. It was quiet for a moment in the shop until he turned back around and found her staring at him with interest.

"What?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for before," she said softly. "I needed that push from you. I just really don't know how to say it, but I appreciate at it."

"Not a problem." He pulled his keys from his pocket. "You've had a rough past few days. I understand."

She nodded as they walked to his car and climbed inside. When it had grown quiet again, she added with a smile, "And don't expect me to say that kind of things often. Appreciate that too."

He rolled his eyes. "I see you're back."

"Shannon, I never left." She grinned at him and turned up the radio, blasting a song that he had never heard before. But she seemed to know every word as she sang along with the window wide open. Her hair blew as the North Carolina wind picked up; leaving some in her face, and making him believe she was more beautiful than ever.

* * *

**The next chapter should be up soon. I really think that one is gonna be fun to write. Anyway... Read and review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Thanks for the reviews. The next chapter will be better but this one is good too. Enjoy!

* * *

It was especially hard for Shannon to control his feelings for Ella once he realized how attracted to her he was. There was something about her attitude, and the way she talked to him that drove him slightly crazy. For whatever reason, Ella's tendency to talk like she was better than him (when she knew she wasn't) made him happy.

He could hear her upstairs in the spare bedroom, cursing over something she was trying to put on. He wasn't sure what she had found, but whatever it was seemed to be annoying her.

"Ella?" Shannon asked up the stairs. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine," she called back while something crashed. His eyes widened. "I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay…" Shannon took a deep breath and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Matt's number. It rang a few times, then the familiar voice that was his friend's answered. "Hey, Matt."

"Shannon. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know I'm bringing a friend with me."

"Oh, sure. What's his name?"

Shannon smiled. "Her name is Ella."

"Oh," Matt said on the other end, understanding what he meant by that. "When did you meet her?"

"It's kind of a long story that I need to tell you alone sometime. I just wanted to run it by you before I came there… you know?"

"It's cool," Matt answered. "I actually have a girl I met the other night coming as well. Remember Addie? I mentioned her to you the other night."

"Yeah. I remember." Shannon looked at the stairs when he heard another crash. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

They hung up and Shannon decided he was going to see what she was doing. While he did trust her, she was dropping things and that was never a good thing. When he found her upstairs, there were clothes everywhere, most of which were his. She smiled as she pulled on a shirt, giving him a look that knew she had done something wrong.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"Looking for something to wear."

"I can see that. Did the room explode or something?" Shannon asked, grabbing his clothes and throwing them on his bed. He looked at her again and she only continued to smile. "What?"

"I couldn't find your clothes. It took me a while."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I don't want to know. Are you almost ready? We have to leave soon."

Ella nodded and gave him the rest of the clothes she had dropped. She was excited to be going somewhere with him, knowing that he was the type who would have fun. Even though she didn't know the person's house she was going to, she was sure that he wouldn't ask her to go somewhere that wouldn't be fun.

She followed him into the kitchen, noticing his expression was still the same as upstairs. Ella could only continue to smile as she watched him grab a few things and then look for his keys. As soon as he realized they were missing, he turned to her, eyes narrowed.

"Okay, where are they?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't know."

Ella laughed and walked toward the car. "I don't."

"You're a bad liar."

"Am I?"

"Yeah."

Rolling her eyes, she pulled his keys out of her pocket and tossed them to him. He was still watching her as they got into the car and she continued to laugh. Every time she was in a good mood, Shannon was happy. He didn't like when she became the scared girl and liked how excited she was. "Can I drive?" Ella asked.

Shannon shook his head. "Not here. Maybe later."

Addie waited for Matt to pick her up, feeling her heart jumping in her chest. She was excited to be going to his house, where he would be most comfortable. But she was even more excited because she felt confident and knew that he knew she liked him now. It wasn't that she didn't think he did before, but seeing as she kissed him in the pet shop earlier and the way he looked at her after, it was something amazing to her.

A car came to a stop in front of her house and she recognized Matt inside. She frowned when she realized he wasn't smiling and didn't seem too happy to see her. She opened the door carefully, not wanting to look like an idiot or too excited. He didn't have to know she was ready to yell. It didn't help that his expression was still not one she hoped to see.

"Hey," he said. "Are you ready?"

She nodded. "I am."

"Good. Because we're gonna have some fun."

Addie looked at him, thinking that by the look on his face they weren't going to. All she wanted to do was kiss him again, but seeing as they were in the car and Matt was supposed to be watching where he was going, she thought that it could wait until later. She heard Molly in her head, reminding her to get him alone. Rolling her eyes, she knew her friend was thinking about her.

Matt pulled onto the road and looked her way. "My friend should be there soon. I think he's bringing along a friend too. They're new so we're all not sure how they run and I think we'll be falling on the ground a lot."

"I can see why you told me to wear old clothes," she said, glancing down at an old shirt she found. "Matt?"

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath. She had been thinking about this since he left earlier that day and even though his expression was still not good, she was going to ask. "Would you want to go to dinner tomorrow night?"

She knew as soon as she said it, he couldn't. He probably had a show or had to be on the road. Matt sighed. "I have to go somewhere for my job for the next few days. I won't be home. But when I do get home, I'd love to. How about next Wednesday?"

That was nearly a week away, but it was okay with Addie. She didn't care when they went to dinner. But she was becoming more concerned that Matt wasn't telling her about being a WWE superstar. It wasn't that she cared that he was famous, she liked him either way, but she wondered why he didn't say anything. Did he think she would only want him for that then? She wanted to ask him, but thought it would be better to do so after the four wheeling that day. When they were alone and could talk. She would ask him and maybe get closer to Matt too.

She looked at him. "Is everything okay?"

Matt sighed and shook his head. "I had a fight with my brother earlier. We don't fight a lot."

Addie looked down and wondered what it was like to have a brother at all. "I'm sorry. What was the fight about?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind."

Her heart raced and she felt her face go red. "Sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It's okay," he said, shaking his head. "It's just something that I need to not talk about."

Addie nodded and sighed. She didn't expect Matt to be in a bad mood and wondered if he was going to even want to go four wheeling with his friends and her. It would be even harder for her to talk with him alone as he didn't want to talk then. They didn't have to talk about that though and she didn't even want to talk. She wanted to kiss him. Her face reddened at the thought again and she felt a small smile come on her lips. She just wanted to kiss him.

"Are you ready?"

She looked up and felt her eyes widen at the size of the house she was in front of. It was huge. Matt laughed. "Your house is huge," she muttered.

"It is," he agreed. "I love it though."

"I can see why." Addie stepped from the car and stared again, but she stopped when she heard another voice. She turned to see a guy coming toward them, a girl behind him. She looked very young and seemed a little scared of being there.

"Shannon," Matt said. "This is Addie. Addie, this is my friend Shannon."

She smiled. "Hi."

Shannon smiled too and pointed to the girl. "That's Ella."

Ella waved and brushed some of her brunette hair from her face. She smiled and then looked at the ground. Shannon looked confused at this, but she wouldn't look at him.

"Hi," Matt said.

Shannon looked around. "Where is Jeff?"

She watched as Matt's expression grew angry and he shook his head, pulling Shannon near him. "I'll talk to you about it later." He gave Matt a look, but didn't say anything more.

They walked together until they got to where the four wheelers were and Ella's eyes lit up much to Addie's surprise. "I can't believe I'm about to go four wheeling," she said to Shannon, holding onto his arm. "I haven't gone in so long. This is going to be great."

Matt and him looked at each other and then Matt shrugged. He got one of them and got on. He gave Addie a smile and then took off; going on what seemed to be a very big place to ride. Every time she looked around, it seemed he had more. Even though she knew he had money, it was still shocking to see how much money he actually had. If he was able to buy all of this, she could only imagine how much he made each year. It was definitely more than she made at the pet shop.

"Do you know how to work this?" Shannon asked Addie and she shook her head. He laughed a little, giving her one. "Then this should be fun." Once she had on everything she needed and watched Matt as he came back, she knew she was going to be falling a lot. There was no way she would be able to stay on.

Matt came up next to her, grinning. It seemed his mood was much better than before. "Don't look so scared. You're going to have so much fun."

"I'm going to fall off," she muttered. "I can't do this."

"Yes," he laughed. "You'll be fine. You'll fall but you'll get back on and you'll see how much fun it is."

After Matt continued to tell her she'd be fine, she got on the four wheeler and began to try to drive it. She fell several times in the first few minutes, but then she was able to stay on for longer times and when she came back to where they were waiting, she was smiling at them.

She got off the four wheeler and hugged Matt before he even knew she was. She was laughing and smiling, her entire face lit up. "I can't believe I did it," she said. "It was amazing."

Matt laughed. "I told you that you could."

Addie looked down for a second and then decided it was time to be confident again. She leaned forward and kissed him again. "Thank you."

Shannon laughed as Matt's face reddened but then he kissed her again. She felt her heart race a little and wished that she could stay like that for a while, not going back to her life. She wanted to stay with Matt and ride the four wheelers, coming back to kiss him each time.

Ella and Shannon spent the majority of their time together while Matt and Addie spent theirs together. Addie was so excited and having a lot of fun. Meanwhile, Ella was more interested in riding than talking with Shannon, which made him upset. He got on the four wheeler for a few minutes and then stopped, sitting on the ground while she jumped and drove fast. He watched her, seeing her hair fly behind her, a smile coming onto his face. She was beautiful to him.

"You like her, don't you?"

Matt sat down next to him as Addie went back on hers. "I do," he admitted. "But she's not someone who is looking to date right now."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later," Shannon said, shaking his head. "But I don't want to upset her."

"Oh," Matt nodded. "That sucks."

Shannon nodded, rubbing his face. "What happened with Jeff?"

"We got into a fight." Matt closed his eyes, shaking his head. "He's been a total ass lately."

"He's had a bad time with it. You know that." Shannon looked at Matt.

"I know he has. But it doesn't mean he has to be an ass. He won't listen to a thing I say and it's getting on my fucking nerves. I'm not saying it to be an asshole. I'm just trying to make sure he knows I care."

Shannon laughed, rolling his eyes. "Just leave him alone. He needs time. They were together for such a long time, Matt. He's probably fucked up right now. Beth was his world."

"I can't believe she left." Matt always considered Beth a sister and when Jeff and her started to fight, he couldn't believe it. He always believed they would be together and couldn't believe they would ever break up. But they had. Beth had been gone nearly a month.

"Jeff didn't really give her a choice. He told her to get the fuck out of the house."

"That's why I'm pissed. He could have treated her better."

"Yeah, that's true."

Matt saw that Addie and Ella were coming toward them and sighed. "Whatever. I guess it's up to them now. Hopefully Jeff will realize that being an ass to everyone isn't going to make Beth come back."

* * *

**Beth left because Jeff told her to leave. And then he met Nia, which Matt doesn't mention to Shannon. You'll see why. Anyway... Read and review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hey! I'm updating again. I know I just did, but I really want to put this up. Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!

* * *

She didn't want to be working. In fact, she would have rather been at home sleeping or watching TV than working right then. It was busy, her back was hurting, and she wondered how she was going to make it four more months like this if it was busy again. Her boss didn't seem to care and was making her work as if she wasn't pregnant.

Nia groaned as another person walked into Cracker Barrel and wished she could walk out of the door and never walk back in. She needed her job though, considering the baby would be here soon and she wouldn't be able to survive without money.

"There is a wait of about a half hour," she told the three people standing near the door. "I'll be back in a minute."

She rushed to the back and grabbed the plates that were waiting, trying to work through the people who were coming for their own plates for customers. It was harder to move by someone when you were pregnant, she learned. It was harder to walk at all.

Quickly, she gave the people waiting their food and smiled at them, trying to keep herself from falling to the ground. It was nearly three hours into her shift and she hadn't been able to sit down yet, making her want to just fall down. She glared at her boss as he passed, yelling at another waitress for messing up an order. He was such an ass.

"Nia?"

A voice made her stop and she barely turned enough to see Jeff Hardy standing there, looking at her with sad eyes. "I can't talk now," she said quickly, ignoring the idea that she didn't want to talk to him either way, even though she hadn't stopped thinking about him since leaving him at the coffee shop the other day. "I'm busy."

"When do you get a break?"

He followed her toward her next table, ignoring the fact that she was working. "I don't know," she said, grabbing an empty cup, going to get another soda for the customer. "It's fucking insane here."

"Do you mind if I stay until you do? I need to talk to someone."

She looked at him for a moment and noticed he looked as if he hadn't slept in a while. His eyes were tired and red, his entire body looking weak. She frowned but didn't say anything. "I can't, Jeff. I told you this already."

Jeff shook his head. "Please. Just for a few minutes."

"Jeff, no," she spat. "I can't."

He backed away from her and looked away. "Okay. Sorry."

She watched him walk away and dropped the plate she had in her hand. Everything that was on it fell to the floor, making a huge mess. Her boss began to yell seconds later and she just walked away, dropping her other plates down. Everyone stared at her as she walked toward the door, not bothering to care anymore. She couldn't take this. She was so done.

The parking lot was quiet as she made her way toward her car. She was crying soon and felt herself unable to stop. Jeff came up to her as if he had seen the entire thing, opening the car door for her and sitting down on the other side. "What happened?"

"Fuck that place," she muttered. "I can't take it."

She knew her entire face had to be red and she probably looked like shit. But it didn't matter anymore. She wanted to just make the next four months pass and everything to be okay. She missed David and wished he would call more. She wished that he would just come home more than anything though. It had been so long since she felt his touch and the way he held her when she had a bad day. She needed that touch now and he wasn't there.

There was a guy she had met a few days ago, trying to make her calm down. She barely knew him and still felt strangely calm when he was near her. Nia continued to cry. Jeff was talking but she wasn't listening. She wanted to go home. She didn't care if her boss fired her. It didn't matter.

"Nia," he said, making her stop.

"What?"

Jeff sighed. "Give me your keys. I'll drive you home."

"I'm working," she muttered. "I can't."

"You just said to fuck that place," he whispered. "I don't think they'll care if you go home for the night. Call them tomorrow. You're giving yourself way too much stress right now."

"What did you want to talk about?"

Jeff looked surprised. "What?"

"You said you wanted to talk."

He shook his head. "It's not important now."

She made a face and shook her head. "Whatever."

Jeff took her keys and started the car. She continued to cry as he began to drive. They drove for a while and it didn't even bother her that he was driving while it should have. He looked at her every so often, but she didn't talk to him. That didn't bother Jeff, she knew. She wasn't going to talk to him; she just wanted to make all the stress go away.

Then, he began to sing. It surprised her at first and she didn't know what to do. He sang in a voice that she didn't expect, but it wasn't bad. His southern accent made it nicer and her tears stopped finally. She listened for a while with her eyes closed, slowly beginning to relax. They stopped for a while and Jeff sang. She still didn't say anything, but he didn't seem to mind.

When he stopped, she was a little annoyed. "Keep singing," she muttered.

Jeff smiled at her. "Did you like it?"

"Yes, keep singing," she said, narrowing her eyes. But there was a smile on her face. "Please."

Jeff laughed and began to sing again. She didn't know what he was singing, but it didn't matter. She just liked that he was and for that moment, the stress she had been feeling before was gone.

They sat for a while in silence and she didn't mind. Jeff hadn't talked to her in a while and the singing stopped nearly ten minutes before. She was watching him now, unable to understand why he didn't say anything to her. He had a look to him; something that was interesting and knew made him Jeff Hardy. "Jeff?" she whispered.

He looked up.

"Thank you," she said softly. "Thank you."

He smiled. "No problem."

She smiled too. "What did you need to talk about? I would really like you to tell me."

"It's not important anymore." He made a face and then rubbed his face. "Its stupid actually. You're in a worse situation than I am."

Nia looked down at her stomach and smiled. While it was making her insane at times, she was glad she was pregnant with Emma. "You're a really great person, Jeff. You haven't mentioned it, but I know you're a wrestler and all."

"You do?"

"Yeah," she said. "And I don't care. I think it's cool that you came up to me that day and I could have been some crazy fan that would have never left me alone. And now you're sitting in my shitty car talking to me. Sorry about my shitty car by the way."

He laughed. "Don't worry about it." Jeff sighed. "I never thought about the idea that you could have been a fan that night. I was just trying to get the fuck away from my problems. I just need to get away sometimes, you know? It's so much easier to walk into a store and listen to music. When I saw you, I kind of felt that you were that way too."

Jeff was right. She loved music and used it as a way to get away from her problems. Her heart jumped; how could she have forgotten that? "I am."

He smiled. "I think it's better that you're not a fan of mine. It makes it easier for me."

Nia laughed. "I'm sure. But if you want, I can start screaming and telling you I love you. If that helps."

They were both laughing a few minutes later. All the bad moods and crying was over and it was just them in the car, together. She forgot all about the bad night at work and Jeff seemed to be a lot less tired than when he first came up to her earlier.

"I'm sorry for leaving you in the coffee shop the other day," she admitted. "I shouldn't have. I think I need a friend right now and something tells me that you're that person."

"It's okay. My brother said something really fucked up to you."

"Don't worry about that."

Jeff sighed. "I kind of have to. He doesn't go away, Matt. He's like that one bug that you try to kill a million times and it still comes fucking back. It's great for being a wrestler, but I swear, it makes me want to kill him as my brother sometimes."

"My mother is like that," she said. "She loves to be in my business."

Jeff's eyes lit up. "Exactly. Matt thinks that he has to be in my life all the time. I know he's my older brother, but I'm not a kid. You know?"

"Definitely." Nia sighed. "Maybe we should get them in the same room together and let them drive each other insane."

Jeff laughed. "That sounds fine to me."

* * *

**I think Nia and Jeff together are cool. Anyway... Read and review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hey. I'm updating again. I know I've updated this one a lot, lol. But I think I should update it as I haven't for a while. Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!

* * *

When Nia dropped Jeff off at his house a few hours later, she felt pretty upset. Not because of what happened before, but because he was leaving and now she had to go home to a house where she would be alone. She sighed and began to drive, wondering when she would see him again. She didn't know what his problems were, but she had a feeling that they were helping each other without even knowing it. There was so much to learn about him, more than any fan could have told her.

It made her wonder. How different was Jeff from what the fans saw? They couldn't see everything. There had to be more to Jeff than jumping off things and his wrestling career. She knew he was special. Anyone could have seen that. But she wanted to know him better.

Her house seemed so quiet as she entered a few minutes later and she set down her things on the bed. It was only seconds later when she got a text on her phone. Much to her surprise, it was from Jeff. It said, "I put my number in your phone. I hope you don't mind. Hope to see you soon, Jeff."

She smiled and fell onto the bed.

"What the fuck is your problem right now?" Ella yelled as they got into Shannon's car a few hours later. "You've been an asshole since I got onto the four wheeler."

Shannon shook his head. "I'm tired."

"Fuck you," Ella spat. "I don't believe you. What did I do? A few hours ago, you were all happy with me. Suddenly, you're acting like I'm the biggest fucking bitch there is. What did I do?"

He shook his head. He couldn't tell her why he was upset, seeing as it was because she spent more time riding than talking to him. He did invite her to ride them anyway and not talk to him. But why didn't she say anything to him? Addie and Matt had snuck off about an hour after they arrived. And seeing as they came back and Addie was laughing, she knew they had to have been doing something.

Ella turned away from him and stared at the ground. She wanted to kill him. Even when he had come to find her the night she ran off, she didn't understand him. One moment he was laughing and talking with her. The next he was acting like an asshole. What did she do?

When they got back to Shannon's house, she ran up the stairs and closed the door behind her. He watched her for a while, thinking he should have went after her and tried to explain why he was mad. But what would she say? Would she laugh and call him crazy? He knew he was crazy already, but did she understand that he just wanted to talk to her?

Shannon took a deep breath and called Matt. "I think I fucked things up with Ella already," he said, rolling his eyes. "What should I do?"

Matt laughed. "I don't know. Talk to her."

"I kind of already screwed that part up." He explained how he didn't know what to say in the car. "And now she won't talk to me."

"She's in your house," Matt explained. "It's not like you can't talk to her now. Just talk to her."

Shannon hung up the phone and sighed. Why didn't anyone understand that with Ella talking was hard? You either got the happy Ella or the one who acted like you were the biggest asshole on Earth, even if you weren't?

Maybe Matt was right though. He went up the stairs and knocked on the door. Ella didn't answer. "Ella," Shannon said, taking a deep breath. "Can we talk?"

"No."

He opened the door and saw her laying on his bed, staring at the floor. He walked toward her and sat on the end of the bed, staring at her. She turned and looked at him finally, glaring at him with tears in her eyes. "You either want me to be here or you don't, Shannon. Fucking decide. Because I'm sick of you coming to find me and then acting as if you don't even want to talk to me."

"I want you here," he whispered. Shannon was a little annoyed that she was saying that when she was the one who kept leaving. "I just don't understand why you didn't talk to me when we were at Matt's house before."

Ella looked confused for a moment and then laughed. "You're mad that I didn't talk to you."

"Yeah." It was bothering him that she was laughing. "You acted like you didn't even care that I was there."

She sat up, her hair falling into her face. She touched his arms and pulled him closer, a smile on her face. "Shannon, I was having fun. I'm sorry if you thought I was ignoring you."

"Really?"

She didn't answer for a moment but only stared at him with a look in her eyes that he didn't understand. Then, she sighed and closed her eyes. "Yeah, Shannon."

He felt stupid. "I'm sorry."

Ella smiled. "Don't be sorry."

He nodded and stood up, walking to the door. "Do you want to get some dinner?"

Ella made a face and got up, following him. She shoved him when she walked through the door and went down the stairs. He followed after her and wondered what she was doing. When she started to get things from the kitchen, he knew that she was going to make dinner. "You're going to start having dinner here," she said, rolling her eyes. I told you that earlier."

He watched her as she began to make dinner for a while, but found he was still a little upset. While he and Ella were talking again, she still had no idea that he was really starting to like her. But he didn't know if he wanted her to know that, considering she was still really hurt over what her ex had done. It seemed as if every time they were talking again, one of them did something stupid and she would run away. He couldn't let her leave again. Shannon wanted her with him.

Ella turned around. "Why are you staring at me?"

He smiled. "Sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure."

Addie laughed as Matt led her toward his house while Shannon watched Ella. He was smiling and he knew that she wanted to do. They barely got inside before he let his lips touch hers and more laughing started. They fell onto the couch and he deepened the kiss, his fingers getting stuck in her hair. She felt her hands touch his body, her fingers going into his shirt. If only Molly could see her. Then again, it was probably a good thing she couldn't see her.

"You should have kissed me like this earlier," he whispered as they stopped for a moment.

Addie smiled. "I don't think that kissing you like this in a pet shop would have helped."

He shrugged and then kissed her again, his fingers also going into her shirt. She felt herself get excited as he began to touch her. It was like her dreams, but even better. They were both getting more excited and Addie knew that Molly was right about confidence. She was happy that she got him alone and wished she would have done so earlier.

"I wish I could go on that date with you tomorrow," he muttered as they finally stopped kissing each other. "I really want to see you. I want to hold you."

She thought for a moment and then smiled. "Hold me now."

Matt laughed at her expression and kissed her cheek. "I don't want someone to walk in on us."

"They're not going to come in," Addie said, giving him another smile.

"I'm not talking about them." Matt's expression went back to how it looked when he picked her up earlier.

"Your brother."

He nodded. "Yeah."

Addie sighed and knew while they had fun, it was over now. He was still worried about his brother and mad about the fight that they. She didn't want to ask him about being a wrestler now, seeing as it would only make everything worse. She didn't want a good moment to end with a fight. He kissed her on the lips quickly and then stood up. "Are you ready?"

She nodded. "Sure."

* * *

**Nia and Jeff really are cool. Anyway... Read and review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello. Thanks for the reviews. I like this chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"It was amazing," Addie told Molly the next day, annoyed that she was at work and Matt wasn't there. She couldn't stop thinking about him and the way it felt to have his lips on hers. She had giggled the moment she walked into the pet shop and Molly's eyes lit up at her expression. "I really want to kiss him right now."

Molly laughed. "He's not here."

"Don't remind me." Addie looked at her phone, wishing her would text her. It would be nice to see someone from him, or even hear his voice. Then, she decided she would text him first.

Molly looked at Addie's phone. "Are you calling him?"

"Texting him first." She smiled and wrote: 'I miss you.'

Seconds later, there was a reply. 'Me or my lips?'

Molly laughed as she began to clean around her. Addie couldn't help but feel her cheeks redden at what he replied. While she told her best friend what she and Matt had done, it didn't mean that she didn't get embarrassed when he mentioned it around her.

"Call him."

Addie grinned. "Should I?"

When Molly gave her a look, she called Matt and waited for him to answer. "You and your lips," was the first thing she said and felt herself smile as she heard his laugh. It made her remember how it felt when he was laughing in her ear nearly a day before. How many more days until she saw him again? It felt as if she hadn't seen him in days already.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Addie rolled her eyes. "I'm working. It's fun."

"Really?" The tone of his voice made her laugh.

"Yes. You should come home and see how fun it is."

There was a silence. "I wish I was with you."

She looked at the ground and didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask him about being a wrestler and wondered if he knew she knew. Finally, she took a deep breath and wondered if she could ask without being rude. "Where are you?"

"In California."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Working," he replied, the same tone as before.

Molly seemed to notice Addie's expression and walked closer. She nodded her head as if to say she needed to ask Matt about what his job was. But she didn't want to start a fight when they had barely been together for a few days. If Matt wanted her to know, he would tell her right?

It annoyed her. Why did it even matter?

"Addie?"

She sighed. "Sorry."

"Are you okay?"

She forced a smile as Molly walked away, shaking her head. She wasn't worried about what her best friend wanted her to do. While she loved her, she would ask Matt about being a wrestler soon. "I'm fine," she said. "Just a little tired."

"Listen, I need to get back to work. But I'll call you later, okay? I really can't wait to see you."

This made her smile. She talked to him for a few more minutes and then hung up the phone, ignoring the look that Molly gave her. All she wanted to do was have Matt near her.

Ella groaned. When she made Shannon dinner, she had forgotten what a mess he was able to make. After he finished, he got up from the table and left everything there. He had gone up to his room with all his dogs, leaving her to clean up and sit alone. When she finished cleaning, she sat at the table, staring around her.

She had been here for a few days. But other than the bedroom she had been in, Shannon's room, and the kitchen, she hadn't spent much time in the large house. Deciding it was time to see what was there, she got up and walked into one of the other rooms. There were boxes everywhere, none having any names on them. Some were full, others barely had anything inside.

She took a seat and stared into the first box. Nothing she looked at seemed familiar. A few things had to do with his tattoo shop, maybe bills or something else. Then, there were pictures of a much younger Shannon with other people, Matt being one of them. They were in strange clothing and didn't smile.

Ella looked at the picture again, smiling a little. He looked so strange without the tattoos. Almost like a child.

"What are you doing?"

She looked up to see Shannon standing there. "Looking through these boxes."

He looked at the boxes and his eyes widened a little. "Oh."

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing." He looked away. "Why?"

"You panicked when you looked down. What did I do wrong? Should I have not looked at these pictures?"

"No." He sat down next to her, taking the picture from her hand. He smiled at it, touching it as if it would break. "This was awesome."

"What the hell are you wearing?"

Shannon laughed. "Ella, have you ever watched professional wrestling?"

She shrugged. She didn't really care for that. "No."

"I used to wrestle for the WWE. They fired me and since then, I've focused on my shop."

Ella started to laugh and took the picture back from Shannon. "You look stupid."

"Thanks." He rolled his eyes. "I like this picture."

"How long ago was this?"

"Probably ten years ago."

"Wow."

Ella began to go through the other pictures when she remembered the girl at his shop the day before and smiled. "You're famous," she said. "Aren't you?"

He shrugged. "Yeah."

This seemed to make her excited and she stood up. "Why didn't you tell me you were famous?"

"Why does it matter?"

Ella sat back down, noticing it seemed to annoy him that she asked that. She looked at the pictures again and realized that he liked that she didn't know he had wrestled. It seemed while he liked to wrestle, he didn't want her to like him for that reason. "I'm sorry for looking at the pictures."

"It's okay."

"Do you miss wrestling?"

"Sometimes." He smiled. "But I love my job."

Ella gave him a smile. "At least you do. Because I hate mine."

He had to smile at her joke and then he decided he was going to hug her, surprised when she didn't try to push him away. He knew telling her that he was a wrestler could have made her want to leave, but it didn't seem to really bother her and that made him happy. Ella was interesting to him. She had so many things that annoyed him, but at the same time, he was glad she was at his house.

The next day, he drove her to a place where she could buy some clothes. "Why are you buying me clothes?" she asked.

He took a deep breath. He had been thinking about telling her for a while now. "I want you to stay with me. Permanently."

Ella looked at him and then looked down. "Really?"

"Yeah."

She nodded. "Okay."

He was shocked at her answer. "Really?"

Ella nodded again. "Yes."

He couldn't help but smile as he continued to drive. "Good. Because you're going to need more clothes if you want to do that. And we'll have to set you up a permanent room because I don't think the one you're in now is very much like you. I think we should get some paint and maybe some new stuff to put in there. What do you think?"

She seemed very excited, but also very scared. "I think I'm very lucky right now."

"Is that a yes?"

His teasing smile made her laugh and she shoved him. "Of course."

He continued to do more and more for Ella over the next few days. Instead of having her cook, he tried simple dinners and let her relax. He wanted to show her that he was a good person and wouldn't let her be treated like crap. He even talked to Arthur and told him that she needed to be talked to as if she wasn't an idiot and since then, things had gone better at her job.

Each time he did something for her though, he was afraid that she might fight with him. He knew it wasn't as if Ella was gone, the Ella that liked to run away and fight. He could only hope that she was happy to be living with him and he couldn't help but wish they would become closer soon enough.

But he didn't want to scare her like that. It would take time.

Shannon didn't care though.

He really liked her.

Ella smiled at him one night as he put dinner down. "It looks good."

He laughed. "And it's actually okay."

She laughed too. "Of course."

* * *

**Matt and Addie are going to have some fun. Anyway... Read and review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello. Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is very sad. It also deals with something I think is really sad and I just want you to know, I just wrote this and I do not think anyone should ever do this. This chapter is good. Enjoy!

* * *

When she got the phone call, she couldn't believe it. Nia didn't want to believe that David was not going to be home in time to see his baby girl born. She had fallen to the floor after she dropped the phone, feeling her heart jumping in her chest. Her emotions were high; she began to cry.

She remembered Jeff's face and shook her head. She was annoyed with herself for having fun with a man like Jeff while her husband fought for his life every day, probably counting the hours until he saw her again. She closed her eyes and pictured David's face, aching for him to be home. Didn't he know how much she needed him?

Nia gasped and sobbed. She stood up and stared into the mirror, wanting to yell at the girl she looked back at. How was she going to bring a baby into the world without the man she married? Who was she supposed to turn to? Her husband couldn't be there. She still couldn't believe that. She hated his job; she almost hated him for going in the first place.

How could he get her pregnant and leave?

Nia cried.

After sitting there for a while, she got dressed and grabbed her keys. She didn't know where she was going until she got there. The lights shined as she got out of the car and walked up to the door. The person at the door asked for her ID and she smiled as she gave it to him. They nodded and handed her ID back to her.

Nia walked inside, seeing people laughing and drinking. She pretended she was one of them and put a smile on her face as if she wasn't pregnant. Then, she took a seat and looked at the man who was talking to someone else. She sat for a while, staring at everyone around her. None of these people seemed to have a problem in the world. She smiled; she could be like them. When he noticed her, he walked over.

"What can I get you?"

Nia shrugged. "Whatever you think would be good. Please."

He came back a few minutes later and handed her a drink. She thanked him and took a sip. Nia smiled; soon she wouldn't have to worry about David not being there. She began to drink it quicker and looked at the man for another drink.

He seemed surprised, but got her another one.

As the alcohol began to set in, Nia felt herself forgetting every problem she had. Everything around her seemed to get louder and she felt herself laughing and everyone staring at her. She grabbed a guy who was about her age and pulled him off his seat. He was a little drunk but began to dance with her anyway, a smile on his face. He pulled her closer and she could smell alcohol on his breath.

"Hey," she whispered. "I'm Nia."

"Justin," he said back. "Nice to meet you."

They danced for a while and then Nia sat back down, taking Justin's drink. She felt herself becoming less and less concerned for anything other than drinking and having fun. She laughed everyone told her she was crazy and when it was about an hour later, she had about six drinks finished.

Nia could barely keep up with what everyone was saying. No one knew her, but they already thought she was crazy for drinking that much in such a little time.

"I think you have had enough," the bartender said, noticing she was barely able to stand. "I'm not giving you anymore."

She made a face and slammed her hands on the table, laughing when he stared back at her. "Okay, asshole!"

She took a drink from the person next to her and then grabbed another. Seconds before she reached for another drink, someone wrapped their arms around her and pulled her aside. At first, she was going to yell at this person. She felt everything start to come up when she saw who was standing there.

"Jeff," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

Jeff looked pissed. "What the fuck are you thinking?" She didn't answer and Jeff walked up to the bartender. "Do you like serving alcohol to fucking pregnant woman? You fucking dick!"

"She's pregnant?"

"Yeah, you fucker!"

He put up his hands. "I didn't know she was pregnant, I swear. I wouldn't have given her anything if she told me she was before."

Jeff rolled his eyes and ran back over to Nia. "I don't know what the fuck you were thinking, but you need to get the fuck out of here. Come on, Nia." He pulled her along and she began to feel all the emotions and pain coming back. "Why did you get drunk? Do you not care at all?"

"Jeff, stop."

He didn't.

She pulled away and seconds later was throwing up on the ground near his car. He sighed and walked over to her, holding her. She was sobbing when she was finished, holding onto him as if he would fix everything she had just done.

Jeff didn't know what to do. He had been looking everywhere for her and was surprised to see her car in the parking lot of a bar. He wished it wasn't her car, but he knew it was and he was worried for her baby now. What if he had accidentally hurt it? He couldn't imagine her trying to her the baby; something bad must have happened.

"Nia," he whispered, pulling her up. "What happened?"

"He's not coming back," she sobbed. "He won't see my baby."

"Your husband," Jeff answered.

She nodded. "I need my husband, Jeff. I need my husband."

Jeff took a deep breath and pulled her into his car. He made sure she was okay and then got into the car, beginning to drive. He didn't know what to say to her and wished he could have found her before she got drunk. He considered taking her to the hospital to see if the baby was okay, but wondered what the doctors would think when he took a drunk pregnant woman to the hospital.

Then, he realized where he could take her and smiled.

Nia woke up in a room she didn't recognize. Her head hurt badly and she could barely think. The bed she was in was nice and whoever put her there seemed to care. She smiled, wondering if it had all been a dream and David was still home. Then, she remembered the night before and felt sick. She had gotten drunk and could have killed her baby.

She stared at her stomach and felt herself begin to cry.

"Jeff," she whispered, remembering he was the one to help her. But where was Jeff?

She stood up, everything hurting as she looked around her. The room she was in was huge. When she got to the door, she opened it and looked around. She didn't recognize the house. Slowly, she walked down the hallway. She nearly fell to the floor when someone nearly walked into her.

"Who the hell are you?" the person asked.

Nia looked around. "I'm Nia. Where am I?"

"What the fuck is going on?" the person asked and looked around. "Why are you here? I swear, if you're a fan, I'm fucking calling the police."

"Who are you?"

The person laughed. "I'm Beth."

Nia didn't know who Beth was, but wondered why Jeff had left her there in a house she didn't even know. "I'm just looking for Jeff," she said. "Do you know who Jeff is?"

"Do I know who Jeff is?" Beth laughed. "Oh God, what the fuck has he done now?"

"You know Jeff?"

"I was with him for nearly ten years," Beth told her. "I fucking know Jeff."

She followed Beth into another room and wondered where Jeff was. "Where is Jeff?"

"I don't fucking know. This is just fucking great."

Beth turned around and she finally looked at Nia's stomach. "Oh my God, you're pregnant. He got you pregnant? What the fuck is wrong with him?"

"Jeff didn't me pregnant," she said. "I barely know Jeff."

Beth shook her head. "I'm calling him. I don't know what the fuck is going on here."

Nia rolled her eyes. "Good. Because neither do I. I just woke up here."

* * *

**Nia meets Beth. Where is Jeff? Jeff isn't going to have fun when he comes back home and sees them together waiting for him. Anyway... Read and review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello. Thanks for the reviews. I like this chapter and I think parts of it are funny, lol. Enjoy!

* * *

Nia thought Beth was pissed when she saw her, but when Jeff returned about an hour later, everything from before didn't seem to matter. Jeff didn't seem surprised that Beth was there and was calm as she began to yell at him and he sat down, glancing at Nia, watching from the stairs.

"Who is she, Jeff?" Beth asked. She was walking around him, her eyes staring at his head. He still didn't seem to care. "Who is she?"

Jeff looked at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to know who the fuck she is." Beth pointed her finger toward Nia and she could only watch and hope that everything would be okay. She still wasn't sure who Beth was, but knew she wasn't someone that Jeff was excited to see, even as calm as he was. Even though she only knew Jeff for a few days, she had realized he was very quick to stay calm in bad situations.

"She's a friend."

"Is this who you're fucking now?"

Jeff's eyes narrowed; it was the first time he actually seemed to care what she said. "You really need to calm down. This isn't your house."

"Is that a yes, Jeff? Are you fucking her?"

"Are you fucking crazy?" Jeff yelled. "She's pregnant. I was with you for how many fucking years. I'm not with her. She's a friend."

Nia closed her eyes; Beth was Jeff's ex. Was that why Matt called her a pregnant homewrecker? It would make a lot of sense and explain why Matt seemed to hate her.

"I can't believe this."

Jeff stood up as Beth walked away. "This isn't your house anymore, Beth. You need to leave."

Beth stopped, shaking her head. "Do you wish you were fucking her?"

Nia was beginning to wonder why she was angry as she was. "Beth, stop. You need to leave."

"Leave me alone, Jeff."

She couldn't seem them anymore but she heard them continue to fight. "I'm sorry you're mad at me, Beth. It's not my fault that you didn't want to be here anymore. You made me look like an ass in front of my brother and everyone thinks this is my fault. I'm done fighting with you. You don't live here anymore and you have no right to come into this house and ask who is here. I don't care who is here; you need to leave."

There was a silence and then she heard someone fall. She watched as Beth grabbed a bag and then walked from the house, the door making an even louder noise as it slammed. Nia sat for a while, wondering if she should go see if Jeff was okay. When she did get up, she saw him sitting on the floor, holding his face. There was blood on his cheek, but he didn't look too hurt.

"Nia," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry," she answered. "I really screwed up last night. You don't know how sorry I am. It was a really bad night and I just didn't know what to do anymore."

"Why didn't you come to me?"

She shrugged and sat down next to him. "You don't need to come save me every time I have a problem, Jeff."

He rolled his eyes. "I can't even save myself right now, Nia."

"I know," she whispered. "That's why I didn't call you."

Jeff touched his cheek and then looked around him. "I'm sorry for what she said. She's very loud."

"Is she your ex?"

He nodded. "We were together for a long time. When we broke up a month ago, it didn't end well. She made it seem like it was my fault and now my brother thinks that I fucked up when I didn't do anything and it makes me mad."

"You should tell him that."

"I told you how my brother is," Jeff muttered. "He doesn't listen. I don't really care what he thinks. I love him, but sometimes he just needs to realize this is my life and not his, you know?"

Nia nodded and sighed. "Where am I?"

Jeff looked around him and realized they were still in the house. "You're at my house."

"Oh. You have a nice house."

He gave her a smile. "Thank you."

"I can't believe what I did last night," she muttered. Nia held her stomach and stared down at the baby inside of her. She wanted to make sure she was okay, but also was scared the doctor would be angry with her. She couldn't blame them; she did a really bad thing to her baby.

He looked at her stomach. "I'm sure she's okay."

"Can you take me to get my car?" Nia asked. "I should go to the doctor and make sure the baby is okay."

"Do you want me to take you?"

Nia walked to say yes, but knew he was having enough problems without her. While she didn't want him to leave her, she also didn't want to make him spend all his time with her. "That's okay."

Jeff stood up, helping her up after. They stared at each other for a moment and then he grabbed his keys. "Your clothes are upstairs. I didn't clean them, but I thought you might want them."

She looked down, realizing she was wearing a shirt that wasn't hers. "Sure."

Ella walked where Shannon had come after her that night, smoking a cigarette. It wasn't far from where Shannon's shop was and she found comfort when she sat down and sighed. She looked at her cigarette, realizing it was one of Shannon's. He had left a pack of them on her bed that morning.

She smiled. Her bed. Shannon had worked hard on making her room that week. He had painted, bought a bed, and a few other things all in a few days. While she hated that he spent so much money on her, she was thankful. And while he could be an asshole and many times she wanted to kick him again, he treated her well. It was reassuring that he wanted her at his house permanently. She thought she would be living with her parents again and was happy she wasn't. It was also an interesting thing, living with someone like Shannon. She spent a lot of time going through his wrestling things, watching old videos when he wasn't home.

He never wanted to talk about wrestling, she realized. Shannon always seemed strange when he caught her looking through photos, or watching a video on his TV. He would give her a small smile and walk away before she could say anything to him.

Ella loved watching him wrestle. There were several videos she hoped he wouldn't realize were missing. She figured he wouldn't miss them though, as they had enough dust on them to show they hadn't been looked at in years.

When she was scared, she watched him. He always seemed comfortable flying off of the ropes onto whoever he was wrestling and it made her smile.

One day, Shannon came home early and saw her watching one of the videos. He sat down, laughing as he fell onto the other wrestler. "That was a fun match."

"I've watched this one at least five times."

Shannon looked at her. "Really?"

She laughed a little and nodded. "I watch them when you're not home."

"Why?"

Ella shrugged, turning off the video. She looked at Shannon, seeing he had bags in his hands, food inside. They walked into the kitchen together.

"You can watch them when I'm home, Ella."

Ella didn't answer and began to get ready to cook dinner. "I like watching them."

"I didn't know you were watching them."

"I started watching the videos after I found that picture," she explained. "I like them. They're interesting and I always think you're going to fall on your head. It would explain your crazy ass, you know."

"I've fallen on my head a few times." He grinned, throwing something at her. "I'm going to make dinner, you can watch the videos if you want."

"Do you want me to help you?" She looked around the room, walking closer to Shannon. He had a lot of things but she wasn't sure what he was going to make for them.

He shook his head. "It's okay."

Ella went to walk away but then Shannon pulled her back. He looked at her for a moment, giving her a smile. Then, before she could say anything, he kissed her. Ella was surprised and felt herself back away, but he pulled her closer. She pushed against him and he fell onto the ground. Ella looked down at him, her eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?"

He didn't look up.

"Fuck you," she whispered.

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**Next chapter will be fun, lol. Anyway... Read and review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello. Thanks for the reviews. Sorry for the wait. Enjoy!

* * *

Addie sat down in her car, staring at Matt's house. She had been waiting there for nearly a half hour. Matt had called her, telling her that he was on his way home and he wanted to see her. She looked at the clock, sighing when another minute passed, leaving her wishing for him even more. She closed her eyes, wishing his lips were on hers. She wanted to see him laugh and she wanted to feel him near her.

There was a loud noise that made her look around and she saw a woman driving away from Matt's house, her eyes angry. She stared at Addie for a moment and then continued to drive. Addie recognized her as Jeff's girlfriend, Beth. Addie shrugged and looked at the clock. Another few minutes had passed. Addie rolled her eyes.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, sending him a text. 'You need to hurry.'

Addie smiled.

When her doctor told her the baby was fine, Nia was relieved. She thanked him and walked from the office. She sat down in her car, wondering if she should call Jeff and tell him that her baby was okay. Every time she thought about what she had done, she wished Jeff wouldn't have found her. Once again she had to thank him for saving her and each time, it seemed to get even more embarrassing when it came to how he found her. What would be the next time? She couldn't even imagine.

Her phone began to ring and she felt her heart jump when she saw it was Jeff. It was as if he knew she wanted to talk to him. Nia bit down on her lip and then answered her phone. "Hey, Jeff," she said.

"Hey," he answered. His voice seemed calm. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

She closed her eyes. He thought she was going to do something else that would hurt the baby, she knew. "I'm okay. My doctor just told me the baby is fine. Thank God."

"That's great," Jeff answered. She could see the genuine tone in his voice and felt like crying. Why did he care so much about her? She was nothing but an annoying pain in his life. "Nia, would you like to go to dinner with me?"

She couldn't go to dinner with him. Nia had to stop seeing him. It seemed to get him into trouble and she was sure when her husband came home, he wasn't going to like her spending time with another guy, even if they were just friends. Once the baby came, she would be busy and then it wouldn't matter, but she knew Jeff wouldn't leave her alone. When she decided to get drunk, he was worried. Nia sighed. "Jeff."

"What?"

"I can't keep spending time with you."

He seemed hurt. "Why?"

"I'm married. I'm pregnant. You're obviously having a lot of problems because you're always with me." She wondered what would have happened if Jeff wasn't there at the bar. Would she have stopped drinking? Would her baby have died? She couldn't imagine that happening. It was hard telling Jeff that she couldn't spend time with him, especially when he did help her so much.

"I don't care what anyone says because I spend time with you, Nia. I don't care."

"I do," she whispered. "Jeff, you're not my superhero. I don't want you to think you have to be. I'm an adult who needs to take care of herself."

"Nia, please."

Nia sighed and felt tears come into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jeff. Thank you for everything you've done. But I can't let you ruin your life because of me."

She hung up the phone and felt herself begin to cry once she realized she had once again taken Jeff from her life. Nia stared down at her stomach and wondered what her baby thought of her. Did she think she was nothing more than a pregnant home wrecker like Jeff's brother? She wondered what her husband would have thought if he knew what had happened over the past week or so. He would have been angry with her for getting drunk, she knew. Nia knew she would have to tell him eventually and sighed.

She started her car and began to drive home.

Addie giggled as he peeled the last of her clothing off her body, his eyes filling with emotion and pure desire. She leaned back, letting him kiss her neck, forcing herself to remember to keep calm. It felt wonderful to be in his arms, his physical, beautiful body right above hers.

"I told you earlier," she whispered, pouting a little. "You should have hurried."

When Matt got home, she didn't wait for him to ask what she wanted to do. She had forced him down on the couch, shoving her mouth on his. He had stopped her and they went upstairs.

"Sorry," he grinned. "Next time, I'll make sure I'm here on time."

Addie giggled as he continued to explore her, pushing her hair from her face, slowly putting his hand through her hair. She trembled at his touch, but wished for him to continue. She put her hands on his bare chest, feeling his body shutter. He gave her a weak and tempted smile as she laughed at the feelings they were getting. Carefully, she took hold of his pants and gave him a grin of her own. He lied down beside of her and she took her time pulling his pants down. Matt leaned on her, their warm bodies colliding easily. She trembled again, but it was perfect.

"Matt," she whispered, as they began to make love for the first time.

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**Addie gets Matt, lol. Anyway... Read and review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello. Thanks for the reviews. I think this chapter is a good one for a few reasons, but it also shows one of the characters really well. Enjoy!

* * *

Ella had walked for what felt like hours, clutching a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. When she stopped to get them, the guy almost didn't sell them to her because she couldn't prove she was old enough to smoke them. She believed the only reason she got them was because she looked crazy. She had passed several people, all who stared at her as if she was crazy. She was crying and her eyes were red. She walked to where her job was, taking a seat in front of the place, finally allowing herself to really cry. She pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed, dropping the pack of cigarettes and lighter.

Shannon had made her feel special. He took her in when no one else would and gave her a home. She loved watching his videos and loved his teasing attitude with the world. Sometimes he was quiet and other times, she saw a person that many didn't see. She loved when they were in her room, laughing and spending time doing nothing they needed to. Sometimes, she watched him in the tattoo shop and watched him talk with fans. They were always excited and she couldn't help but think this was a man who loved what he did.

She never expected him to kiss her. Why she didn't know. It wasn't as if she didn't guess he might have thought she was pretty. It wasn't as if she wasn't pretty, either. She knew that the night he found her, he probably thought that. And she knew spending time with him probably made that worse. But she couldn't fucking believe he kissed her.

Ella knew he was good looking and she loved his personality. There weren't many people who were able to make her have fun like that. She loved when they had dinner and she felt as if for the first time in a long time, she belonged there. Why the fuck did he have to complicate things right now?

She began to walk again, stopping in front of his tattoo shop. One of his friends was inside, working on someone's tattoo. She watched for a while as no one realized she was there and then she began to walk again, smoking a cigarette.

She thought about Shannon who was probably back at his house, standing with the dinner that he made. He was probably hurt but she didn't really care. Ella sighed, rubbing her face. She closed her eyes and imagined his face smiling, only to stop the pain she was feeling. Did she really leave him there? She was constantly leaving him after he did everything for her. Ella shook her head. Was she crazy? He did everything for her. He really cared for her. He cared for her more than anyone else.

A few hours later, she found herself sitting in a bar. She was surprised they let her in but sat drinking anyway. She had a man named Zac buying her beers while his hand was constantly down her shirt, feeling everything she had. They had danced a few times and he seemed okay. She had easily forced her tongue down his throat.

"I'm thinking of going back to my apartment," he whispered as she finished her third beer. She was little, she so was already drunk. "Do you want to come?"

Ella grinned, leaning on him. "Okay," she mumbled as he pulled her up, dragging her toward the door. "You might want to buy some more beer, Zac." She giggled, laughing as she fell into his old car. He rolled his eyes, laughing at how drunk she was. "I need some."

"Okay," he agreed. "We'll get more beer for you."

She was waiting for him a few minutes later and was looking in his car. There were a lot of clothes in the back, woman's clothes. She smiled as he walked toward her, throwing a bag for her to hold.

"You took a while," she muttered.

Zac laughed. "Look inside. I bought a surprise for you."

She pulled the bag open and next to the beer was a container. It was a package of x-large condoms. She laughed as he gave her another look and they drove to an apartment building, wasting little time until she was lying in his dirty bed, nearly naked there. He was pulling off his clothes as she waited there, unable to stop giggling when he threw the x-large condoms at her.

She went to get one when he stopped her, putting them on the floor. "We need one," she muttered, trying to get the package. "Wait."

Zac shook his head. "We don't," he whispered as he pushed himself against her. "Don't worry."

She stared at him, but was too drunk to even care. Being drunk might have saved her though because just as things began to get heavy, everything inside of her began to protest. She shoved his dirty body away and ran toward the bathroom, barely making it there when she threw up on his floor. He followed after her and began to yell.

"What the fuck did you do?" he yelled. "You fucking just puked on my floor!"

Ella wasn't drunk anymore and knew what she had almost done. She felt dirty, staring with him there, seeing her naked. She walked past him, putting her clothes back on. She began to cry as he watched her, pissed as he realized that he wasn't having sex with her that night.

"Take me to the bar," she whispered.

He rolled his eyes. "Fucking get there yourself."

It was nearly midnight as she began to walk from an area she didn't know. She didn't have any money and no way to call Shannon to get her. She didn't recognize where she was and didn't have the cigarettes anymore. Her body felt disgusting as she touched her hair. She couldn't remember when she left Shannon's, but she knew it had to be almost seven hours ago. He probably went to look for her and was worried that he couldn't find her.

She deserved what she got, she thought. She was lucky that she didn't sleep with the guy and knew that he was nothing more than a dick who wanted her body and nothing else.

Ella sighed as she realized Shannon never thought of her that way. He cared for her and she did nothing but give him the finger, if not literally. She walked until she reached a food store, seeing it was 24 hours. After asking the woman at the register where she was, the woman offered to call her a cab to bring her home. She wouldn't have agreed usually, but she knew there was no way she was getting home without the cab that night.

She thanked the woman and waited for her ride. About a half an hour later, she stood in front of Shannon's house. All the lights were off, so she walked into the back and sat down on a chair, falling asleep there, hoping he wasn't mad.

* * *

**Wow, lol. Anyway... Read and review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: **I own Ella, Addie, and Nia. And that's it. I don't own anything WWE, or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note:** Hello. Thanks for the reviews. I know I should have updated already, sorry. Enjoy!

* * *

When Ella woke up the next morning, she realized she was still in the same place. She yawned and slowly sat up, noticing that Shannon wasn't home. She thought for a moment and realized she didn't see his car last night either. She was drinking, but she couldn't miss his car. She closed her eyes and leaned on the chair. What had she done? Her stomach was aching and her head was hurting worse than she could remember. She didn't really feel as if she would throw up, but she knew she needed something to drink and something to eat.

She made her way to the door and was surprised it wasn't locked. Once inside, she sat down at the table, crying when she noticed all the food he was ready to cook. What had she done?

Ella ate something and stared at the wall, hoping Shannon would be home soon. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell him, but she knew she had to apologize. Something told her he was looking for her, which made everything worse. She already felt like crap for what she did, but the fact that he spent the entire night looking for her made it worse.

She walked to her room, sitting down on the bed. Everything around her was new and it all was because of him. He put everything into making her a place to stay. He made her part of his life.

Her heart jumped when she heard the door open and realized Shannon was home. A smile came onto her face as she heard him mumbling to himself about something that pissed him off. She wondered if she should talk to him, but knew he didn't know she was here. Just as she went to get up, she heard him on the phone.

"Matt, I'm fucking worried. I looked everywhere for hours. I even stopped at her job and he swears he never saw her. I don't know what the fuck happened, but I can't find her. I'm fucking panicking here, man. What if she's hurt? What if she needs my help?" Shannon was upset and she thought he might be crying. "Fuck, man. Why did I kiss her? I hope she's okay, Matt."

She began to cry as he talked and felt everything inside of her hurt. He spent the entire night looking for her while she slept in his chair, only feet from his house.

"Okay, I'll call you if I find her. Thanks, Matt."

She heard him walking around and didn't know if she should even talk to him then. If he knew she was in the house, he would be pissed. He would probably tell her to find another place to stay and she would be unable to pay for a place. While she did have some money, she couldn't get an apartment, let alone keep one for herself. She knew she couldn't let him keep worrying either. Ella walked toward the stairs, watching him for a moment as she walked into the kitchen where he was sitting, his head on the table.

"Shannon?" she whispered. "Hi."

Shannon looked up and seemed shocked to see her standing there. "Ella," he whispered. "Fuck, you're here."

She nodded, as tears filled her eyes. "Yeah. I slept in the chair last night."

He looked at the chair she pointed to and rolled his eyes. "You were right fucking here," he muttered. "I'm a fucking dick."

"I'm sorry," she told him. "I am."

"You're okay," he whispered, as if he didn't hear her. "I spent the entire night looking for you."

"Shannon, I'm sorry."

"Fuck!" he yelled, standing up. "Do you know I thought I'd never see you again?"

She didn't know what to say to him.

He walked toward the door. "I can't fucking believe you were here the entire night."

"I wasn't," she whispered. "I walked for a while." Ella didn't want to mention what she almost did but knew she'd tell him soon. She walked toward him, but he pushed her away. "Please."

"Ella, go the fuck away," he told her. "Now."

"Shannon, please."

"Now."

Ella cried as she walked up the stairs and went on her bed. She didn't know if Shannon meant she had to leave, or he just wanted her to leave him alone. She sighed, rubbing her face.

Work was a nice, welcomed visit compared to what she was dealing with at home. _Home_. She called Shannon's house home. It only added to the regret and pain she was feeling while Arthur yelled at her and instructed her not to burn the pizzas cooking. Several times, she wondered if she should text Shannon and apologize again. Several times, she decided not to.

On her almost forgotten break, Ella took her tips and bought a pack of cigarettes, realizing she left hers at Zac's house the night before. Her body felt dirty as she remembered him and she ached for a shower. If only Shannon knew how dirty she was, how quickly she was willing to give her body away to a stranger she didn't know. A stranger who obviously didn't care for her and would never allow her to live the way she did at Shannon's house.

Ella rubbed her eyes and felt exhaustion slowly eat her body, knowing the day was far from over. When she was off work, she'd have to return to Shannon's place and somehow get him to even look at her.

_He kissed you_ her mind reminded her. _You don't have to talk to him._

Ella considered her thoughts and sighed. She owed him something, even if he did like her. It was just a kiss, right? Fuck, though. She liked it; his lips were smooth and inviting. It was a long time since someone kissed her the way he did. Her ex often only kissed her with rough expectation, never for the hell of it, or even for her enjoyment. His kisses led to rough, unwanted sex which felt good then and only left a feeling of remorse the next morning. For such a long time, she was abused by him and even though she was just now realizing it, she deserved better; she deserved someone like Shannon.

Even though she knew this, Ella was not ready for a relationship. It made her feel horrible, knowing Shannon only wanted to take care of her. She wasn't ready to commit and didn't know when she would even want to. It made her realize she was nothing more than a parasite to him, a parasite to his entire house. When she looked through those pictures, it wasn't with the loving eyes of a girlfriend; it was with jealous eyes of a homeless bitch.

When she cooked him dinner, it was so she could continue to live there, to feed off him.

At least, Ella knew that's how it started.

Now, there was more. Feelings were involved. Hers and his. If she left him, he would never forgive her. If she left him, she'd never survive. If she stayed with him, he would continue to suffer. If she stayed with him, she would always survive. It felt as if she was stuck.

"Ella! Your fucking break is over!"

Ella sighed.

Addie never felt so alive in her entire life. Asleep to her right was Matt Hardy, the man she made love to the night before. Her body was sore and her heart was full of love. It had felt like such a long time since a guy even looked at her that way, and even though Matt didn't know it, only the third time she had ever gotten into bed with a man. Matt was much more of an expert and he led her through a night of romance she would never forget. Next to her, he snored. His hair was all around his body, smelling rich of sex and sweat.

She was still lying naked beneath his sheets, wanting to keep the moment fresh in her mind. Somewhere, Molly was cheering for her friend. And if it wouldn't have waked Matt up, she might have gotten up and done a dance of her own. For the first time in a long time, she felt perfect; she felt wanted.

"Hello."

Addie smiled as his voice melted inside of her. She turned, facing him with her smile, a thousand watts and only shining brighter from the second. "Good morning," she whispered while her hair fell into her face, red and tangled. He sifted his hands through it, obviously still remembering the night as well.

Matt didn't say anything and only stared into her eyes. "Do you want to get some breakfast?" he asked finally. "I know a place."

Addie slowly said yes even though she preferred to stay in bed. He picked up her shirt off the floor, followed with his clothes. With red cheeks, Addie put her clothes on and laughed to herself. She was with him only a few hours before and now she was afraid he'd see her naked?

"You look absolutely beautiful."

Addie beamed at him. "Thank you."

* * *

**Fun, lol. Anyway... Read and review!**


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